1678 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
All In a Day. — That misfortunes 
never come singly is certainly an old 
saying and a true one. The other day 
the best hammer was gone, and could not 
be. found anywhere. It was generally 
laid at the door of little Charlie Boy, 
who is daft on driving nails, and of 
course drops whatever he has in his 
hands as soon as something else pops 
into his mind. Then the Parson went 
over to the barn to get the best ax. It 
was right over leaning up against the side 
of the cow stable. He saw it there yes¬ 
terday—everyone saw it there. He could 
lay his hand right on it—only it wasn’t 
there. Had the junkman come along and 
stolen it? One boy recalled how the 
neighbor above had had all his tools 
stolen by the junkman when no one was 
at home. Yes. the junkman had stolen 
the ax. It would be handy in his busi¬ 
ness—splitting up old boxes at the back 
door! _ And here comes Shelley running— 
what is the matter? The big horse Jim 
is so lame he cannot go in town with 
him—would be ashamed to drive him. If 
that wasn’t the limit! He must have 
gotten down in the swamp and strained 
himself. It seemed to be in the shoulder. 
It would turn into a thistle low. and that 
would be the end of him. 
A Week Later. —And here it is a 
week later. The best hammer is calmly 
resting on the work bench. George had 
it over by the little henhouse, and gave it 
a wild fling toward the woodshed. It 
landed in a clump of rose bushes, and by 
the time George got over here he had 
forgotten all about it. It all came to him 
after a week or so. Then the Parson 
went, over to hitch up the horses. He 
noticed something tucked in back of the 
harnesses. Yes. there it was—the best 
ax—right exactly where he had put it 
himself, most probably ruminating on 
next Sunday’s sermon when he did it. 
We tried old .Tim out every day. but he 
was still lame and showed no improve¬ 
ment. It teas discouraging. “We will 
trot him along the lawn and see once 
more.’ - said the Parson. He had been 
doing little and was feeling rather kinky. 
Suddenly he gave a big jump, pulled 
away and head in air dashed toward the. 
barn. We had put up a strong mesh 
wire fence where he generally went 
through. Snorting and head high he 
dashed into this fence. It threw him 
terribly, right over on his head, and he 
rolled clear over. It seemed to me that 
he must have been killed outright But 
he wasn’t. He slowly got un and went 
to the brook for a drink. We hitched him 
up, and he was not lame a particle, and 
has not been since. If some of his joints 
were slightly out. they got put back all 
right. 
A Goon SiTNnAY.— What a good time 
we had down at. one of the village mis¬ 
sions a few Sundays ago! After the Sun¬ 
day school the Parson took the boys of 
his class in the old car. and we all went 
over onto the village ball ground. Here 
we cooked our dinner, and also made 
ready for a ball game. Such a good game 
as we had. only it. was all too short, as 
the Parson had to go on to another town. 
Play ok Poker. —Bound in this sec¬ 
tion at least it is a question whether the 
parsons are going to help out in keeping 
Sunday for a day of rest and recreation, 
or let it become a day of gambling. While 
we were cooking the dinner the town 
boys began to gather round and settle on 
the grass in groups. Card playing was 
in order, and poker was the favorite 
game. Such swearing and unspeakable 
talk as went on all the time. But when 
came the answer. Yes. there was a ten¬ 
nis court right alongside the church, and 
on the other side was just the place for 
a croquet set. and over the wall across 
the road was just the place for a ball 
game. Some great first growth maples 
nearby made a perfect place for a picnic 
lunch. "We did all these things the day 
of the church picnic, and, oh, we had a 
grand time!" said a girl just out of high 
school. “How would it suit you to do 
that every Sunday?” asked the Parson. 
The suggestion quite took her breath 
away. “My, but. that would be great!” 
and her eyes flashed. 
Who Blocks Salvation? —The ques¬ 
tion is. Who blocks this salvation? For 
a salvation it is—a good part of it—that 
would save that church from going the 
way of its twin sister over the hill, that 
would help save the young people for the 
farm, and saw' the Christian feeling in 
the hearts < these church people and 
neighbors. 
The Sunday Idea. —That Sunday is a 
wonderful day, embodying a wonderful 
institution, no one will deny, but. we must 
remember that it is a product of evolu¬ 
tion. and people’s ideas about it. have 
constantly changed. There was a Sab¬ 
bath long before Moses’ day, but to them 
it was a day in which the pagan gods 
rested from their anger and hatred of 
men. The word is from Shabbath, “to 
desist.” It. took people generations and 
generations to climb up to a state whore 
they looked upon God as helpful and kind 
instead of being full of anger and hate. 
The Next Step. —The Hebrews first 
thought of God, as far back as we know, 
as stopping on the Sabbath day to rest 
from the work He had done. They 
thought of God as being tired and want- 
Sunday, or smoke up enough tobacco to 
make up for a 11 they didn’t smoke during 
the week. In fact, the Sundays have to 
be counted out of the Lenten 40 days. 
Instead of this happy side of Sunday be¬ 
ing kept under the roof of the church or 
round about under her shadow, she has 
so opposed it that it has sought expres¬ 
sion elsewhere—at the shore or the big 
Commercial ball diamond, or at playing 
craps, as the case may be. In asking sug¬ 
gestions about the country church from 
a large number of young people this was 
one of the answers received: "If your 
religion doesn’t make you happy, get an¬ 
other brand.” 
By Their Fruits.— St. Paul gave a 
list of the fruits of the spirit. The first 
one was love, a wonderfully happy thing 
in itself. The second, the very second, in 
a long list, was joy. Sunday was ob¬ 
served instead of the Sabbath, because it 
was a day of such inconceivable joy. It 
was the celebration day of the most 
joyous thing that ever happened in the 
world—the resurrection of the typical 
Sample Man. How many churches ob¬ 
serve it as a sort of Good Friday instead? 
Does yours? 
Old-Time Teachers and Certificates 
I have been reading about the scarcity 
of teachers, and wondered if it would be 
possible for me to resume teaching. I 
had a second-grade uniform certificate, 
which expired 1900 or 1910. Are there 
any correspondence schools at present 
which make a specialty of preparing for 
teaching? To whom should 1 write for 
information in regard to obtaining per¬ 
mission to teach? 
Are certificates for teaching, now 
granted, after examination without a 
regular course of study, such as training 
school or the four years’ course at high 
school ? MRS. J. M. 
New York. 
I am sure that not only the Depart¬ 
ment of Education, but also school of¬ 
ficials. thoroughout the State are glad to 
October 30, 1920 
her cats swallow a certain number of their 
own long loose hairs in making their 
toilets, and she found it necessary to give 
a small dose of castor oil once a month 
This relieved pussy’s system and kept, 
the fur in healthy condition. Cats love 
castor oil exactly the way a child does 
so it is not. an easy does to administer’ 
| Olive oil is administered for this Dur I 
pose—Eds.] A cat’s taste in food is as 
individual as yours or mine, and cats are 
independent by nature. Of course a cat 
should have some meat, but too much red 
meat for any animal means a bad temper 
and fits of illness. In general water 
should always be at hand, some meat 
sbould be given once a day. and the rest 
of the food should consist of bread soaked 
in milk, potatoes and gravy. Another 
breeder gives her cats what they will eat • 
vegetables, fish, meat, milk, gome of her 
cats are fastidious about what they will 
eat, and others are not. ghe is careful 
not to give too much meat or fish ; mostlv 
milk or vegetables. One of her cats was 
so fond of muskmelons that it would steal 
them out in the field ; another loved corn 
raw or cooked, and would tear the husk 
,•>“ ea ,r it got a chance. My 
I lull would steal just two things—fish 
and cooked corn—but only after she had 
asked repeatedly for some and not been 
served quickly enough. Watch your pet 
and feed her what she likes that is good 
for her. 
Chow dogs look as if they were fed on 
blueberry pie on account of their dark 
tongues and mouth linings. They say 
this shows blur blood, and it seems to. 
There are two Chow dogs owned not far 
away. One is four years old. Miss ITor- 
tense has had it four years and it has 
never had a sick day. so evidently the 
feeding has been correct. Neither “Fuji” 
nor the Other local Chow show any indi¬ 
cation to grow fat. and Fuji will regu¬ 
late her own feeding by stopping when 
she is hungry, whether her plate is cleared 
or not. 
Fuji is a house dog. is never teased 
has plenty of kind words and petting 
Its water dish is kept full, and Miss 
Ilortenso is as particular about sanita¬ 
tion for Fuji as you would be for your¬ 
self. One. has to be careful about baths 
for dogs in cold weather, because they 
catch cold as easily as people do. If 
bathed in cold water in cold weather, 
finish.with cool water and dry thoroughly.’ 
Fuji is fed twice a day. Dog biscuit are 
fed always at night. It gets no raw meat, 
but a certain amount of cooked meat is 
fed. Fuji is exceedingly fond of boiled 
nee. maybe because it is of a Chinese 
variety. The other meal consists of some 
meat and a good-sized plateful of bread 
or potato and gravy with the meat, all 
mixed in. Fuji is fond of liver, also of 
cheese, but boiled rice is the favorite 
dainty. Fuji is not greedy nor fussy 
about its food. Study your dog; don’t 
give it any food you wouldn’t be willing 
to eat yourself; treat it kindly and there 
should be no trouble. e. s. knapp. 
Getting the Dishes Into Hot Water 
ing to stop 
not believe 
desists, He 
the same— 
His work for awhile. We do 
that now, because God never 
never rests. God is always 
without haste and without 
the Parson’s boys got up to play and we 
offered to take these boys into the game, 
they were delighted beyond measure. 
They played a fine game. too. One of 
the players undertook to use some of the 
language of the poker game, but the tall 
lanky fellow who was pitching gave him 
a killing look and told him to “cut that 
out. Don’t you know the minister is run¬ 
ning this game?” At that moment the 
Pastoral Parson was officiating as um¬ 
pire. 
Gaming or Napping— That is about 
what it amounts to for the country par¬ 
son’s afternoon. Will he sit around 
yawning and napping Sunday afternoon, 
bemoaning his lot of poverty and work, 
while the town boys are gambling and 
swearing and telling vulgar jokes in some 
back shed or out under the trees? In a 
questionnaire sent to a large number of 
country young folks there was found this 
demand : “Take the churches away from 
the cemeteries and put playgrounds 
around them.” Fortunately around in 
Connecticut not very many churches have 
graveyards so very near them, but even 
at that how much chance has the play¬ 
ground? The first holy fight will be to 
get the playground, and the second will 
be to use it on Sunday—the day it ought 
to be used. 
The First Step. —The Parson was off 
in the eastern part of the State to speak 
at a Grange Hall a short time ago. As 
we drove from the station we passed a 
large church standing out in the open. 
“That church closed up last week, most 
likely never to be opened again.” was the 
comment. Later on we saw another 
church standing right out in the open 
country. “What are those stakes there 
beside the church?” asked the Parson. 
“Those are stakes for the tennis nets,” 
rest.” Only three chapters farther on in 
the Bible the next reason for a Sabbath 
is given, and a very beautiful one: “that 
thy man servant and maid servant may 
rest as well as thou.” He also told the 
masters to remember that they were 
servants in the land of Egypt. It would 
be well to have this pointed out to many 
a master now. The Inter-Church Move¬ 
ment report showed how many men have 
to work 12 hours a day and seven days a 
week in the steel industry. 
Spoiling the Day. —Having such a 
beautiful day. what did those ancient peo¬ 
ple have to do but to go to work and 
quite spoil it with their terribly cruel 
laws to enforce it! They turned toward 
the “letter that killetb” and away from 
“the spirit that maketh alive.” They 
said that people who worked on the Sab¬ 
bath should be put to death. Once they 
found a man gathering a few sticks on 
Sunday, and Moses asked God what 
should be done with him. Moses thought 
God told him that this man should be 
stoned to death. The Parson does not 
believe for an instant that God did tell 
him so. But those people were very apt 
to fall back into the old pagan ideas 
about God. just as we do often. 
Silly Rules About Sabbath. —Then 
the lawgivers began to make such silly 
rules about the Sabbath. To tie a knot 
was work, so it could not be done. But 
a man might be out in a boat, and if he 
could not tie a knot he might drown. So 
they decreed that he might tie such a 
knot as could be untied with one hand. 
How silly that was! It was wrong to 
take medicine on the Sabbath, but. you 
could rinse an aching tooth with vinegar 
if you would only swallow the vinegar, 
for then it became a food and not a medi¬ 
cine ! 
Holiday and Jollyday. —Sunday as 
taking the place of the Sabbath' for 
Ghristians was always meant to be a 
happy festival day. Those who keep 
Lent can eat all the butter they want on 
have an opportunity to secure the services 
of teachers who are qualified for the work, 
even though they may have been “out of 
the harness, as you say, for several 
years. There is certainly need in this 
important work of the best service of all 
who can in any way be of assistance in 
meeting this problem. 
The letter makes inquiry as to a per¬ 
son who held a second-grade certificate, 
which expired about 10 years ago. Such 
certificate could not. of course, be re¬ 
newed. as it was issued for a very limited 
period, without any professional qualifi¬ 
cations. and was based on the subjects 
which were completed in examinations 
given for that purpose. I may say, how¬ 
ever, that certificates are still granted on 
examination, without the completion of 
any required or professional course. 1 
believe that every teacher should complete 
R, certain minimum amount of profes¬ 
sional training. On the other hand, such 
a requirement is not in effect, as certain 
forms of certificates are still given as a 
result of examination, without attendance 
at any normal or training school. As an 
illustration I might mention the rural 
school renewable certificate, which is is¬ 
sued on the completion of certain exami¬ 
nations. with no requirement relative to 
high school or professional training. I 
am of the opinion, however, that we must 
soon come to the time when every teacher 
will . have received some professional 
training for the purpose of fitting her for 
the important work of teaching. 
GEORGE M. WILEY, 
State Educational Department. 
The Wife’s Share 
I was much interested in the question 
of M. S. F., page 1442, concerning a 
wife’s rights. Now I would very much 
like to know what is considered proper 
support. Most wives would go without 
almost anything rather than to ask, as 
they feel that they on the farm have 
earned it. many times over, and even a 
hired man does not have to ask for his 
pay. Compared with a city business 
man, a farm wife often takes the place of 
bookkeeper, nursemaid, cook, laundress, 
and office boy. and should she not get 
something else besides necessary food and 
shelter? 
There is much bitterness among farm 
women of today because of this very 
thing, and when a teacher earning $S00 
to $900 per year says she cannot live 
respectably on that amount, it surely 
intensifies the bitterness, for we farm 
women consider ourselves respectable peo¬ 
ple. and we have to live on much less, 
with less time off duty. As for cleaning 
house, it is easier work than teaching, if 
two can do it together without any chil¬ 
dren around ; but most of us have to do it 
alone, besides getting meals and waiting 
on children at the same time. This all 
may sound silly on the surface, but I am 
wondering how many of us are going to 
allow our children to become farmers’ 
wives if we can avoid it, or how many are 
going to raise large families, for without 
children we could earn some money of our 
own, and could have a little pleasure once 
in a while. If anyone has a solution to 
the money problem, I would like to see 
this letter in print. F. w. 
R. N.-Y.—We would like a good discus¬ 
sion about this. The question has been 
sent to the wives of some of our farm 
writers and we will gladly hear from all. 
Let’s discuss it fairly, with reason and 
without bitterness. 
Care of Chow 
Dogs and Persian 
Would you give me brieflv 
feeding of a young Chow 
Persian cat? 
Cats 
the care and 
dog. also a 
F. n. R. 
The principal thing to remember about 
Persian cats is that they are more sensi¬ 
tive to heat, and cold and not so strong 
physically as the. common cat. They 
should be kept in at night, guarded from 
danger of over-eating and especially from 
danger of taking cold. One breeder says 
Winter Laying Indian Runners 
A reader in Ohio wrote of the Indian 
Runner ducks laying during the Winter. 
Ours do not. Will some one in the 
Northern States tell us how to feed ours 
to get Winter layers? I had thought it 
was lack of both animal and green food. 
Ours begin about March 1 and averago 
150 to 175 eggs a year, that weigh about 
double the same amount of hens’ eggs, so 
we find them profitable without Winter 
eggs. MRS. J. X. W. 
Vermont, 
