1706 
November 6, 1920 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
At home tonight our folks must be eat¬ 
ing supper. The main dish (or I presume 
I should say the piece de resistance) is 
what I call a “filligrew.” What i6 that? 
I am no cook, but if my life depended on 
preparing this dish I am inclined to think 
I should take a can of salmon and mix it 
carefully with cracker or bread crumbs, 
add a little flour and milk or cream, a lit¬ 
tle grated cheese, and put in an egg or 
two for good measure. Then bake the 
mixture slowly in a deep dish until it be¬ 
comes a soft material with a brown crust. 
That is what I call a “filligrew”—and I 
can see the Japanese boy passing back his 
plate for the third helping. He has a 
large vacuum to fill with vitamines! Then 
there will be a big dish of pot cheese, to¬ 
matoes and peppers, bread and butter, a 
big pitcher of milk and a thumping dish 
of baked apples. The Hope Farm folks 
are farming that menu very hopefully. 
It has been a long day of picking apples, 
and that is a job requiring food. 
I think of them and other farm families 
as I sit in this crowded restaurant right 
here among the “white lights of Broad¬ 
way.” Waiters, better dressed than I 
can ever hope to be, are flying about, and 
the tables are crowded with men and 
women who have come to show off their 
clothing and obtain fresh vigor from pro¬ 
tein and vitamines. There are those who 
think that soft music aids digestion—a 
famous hotel man told me once that music 
during the meal increased the amount of 
the average dinner check by 20 per cent! 
No doubt tho music at many a New York 
restaurant costs $50 a day—all counted 
in on the price of food. I should think 
such music would have few if any charms 
for the heart of the average boarding 
house keeper, and what about the deaf 
man? What effect does music have upon 
him? I could write a long story about 
that. But. at any rate, while his family 
may be said to be filling up on “filligrew.” 
the Hope Farm man is here in the White 
Light, seated at the first table with a 
couple of handsome girls. He has just 
said. “Now girls, I think we should go the 
limit,” and they are studying the long 
bi'l of fare! The nearest approach to 
“filligrew” I can find is “filet of sole” at 
85c per plate. At that rate the Japanese 
boy’s supper would represent the price of 
a barrel of apples! A man at the next 
table has ordered a baked apple. It looks 
like a Greening of average size. As we 
are selling Greenings it would bring a 
little over lc, yet this man pays 25c and 
seems to think he has a good bargain. 
“But, say. girls, what about this ‘family 
porterhouse steak'—only 84! or half a 
chicken at 81.10!” But the girls are not 
quite up to that and after some discussion 
one orders a small steak and the other 
chicken salad. 
But now I know some of you are shak¬ 
ing your heads and sadly remarking, “An¬ 
other star has fallen !” Think of it! This 
Hope Farm man brazenly confessing that 
he is dining in high life in the “Tender¬ 
loin” with a couple of handsome girls! 
I’ll bet they are chorus girls at that. Too 
bad ! A good man gone wrong. See what 
contact with city life will do!” 
Well, yes, I have known these girls to 
sing in the chorus—at church. I have 
known them a good many years. I mar¬ 
ried one of them over 30 years ago, and 
we have known the other intimately ever 
since she was born. In fact, these “hand¬ 
some girls” are Mother and her daughter, 
and we happen to be out for a little spree 
this evening. After supper Mother is go¬ 
ing to a lecture on the study of the Bible, 
while the younger girl and I will go out 
to see a little of the city. I wish that 
aboiut four ounces of beefsteak—not the 
highest quality—you pay 85c, and there 
are many places where prices are at least 
50 per cent higher. The thing that im¬ 
presses a farmer is the fact that he must 
give four bushels of potatoes, a barrel of 
apples, or 55 quarts of milk, or 150 lbs. 
of cabbage, for such a meal as we three 
people had. We are paid for our products 
in dollars which lose at least two-thirds 
of their purchasing power when we buy 
back our own products in the form of a 
city meal! 
* * * * sic 
And the labor question is involved in all 
this. I see every day big signs displayed 
in front of restaurants calling for “dish 
washers,” “bus boys,” waiters, kitchen 
men and others. A “bus boy” is one who 
goes around picking up the dirty dishes. 
He is often paid 850 a month and his 
board. A dishwasher often earns $75 
and board, while “kitchen men” and 
others earn more. Many a dishwasher in 
New York is earning far more money 
than the average school teacher in the 
country. It. is a sad commentary upon 
American civilization when an ignorant 
foreigner washing dirt off dishes in a city 
kitchen can command more money than 
an educated woman struggling to clean 
and polish the mind of the future Ameri¬ 
can in the school room. A form of society 
which permits the lower form of labor to 
be better paid will have to pay the pen¬ 
alty sooner or later. It is a part of hu¬ 
man nature for men and women to strive 
for the premiums which life offers in cash. 
So long as the big city can grab more 
than its share of the nation’s wealth it 
will offer these premiums for human en¬ 
deavor. Under our present condition that 
is likely to go on and to leave in the 
country two great classes of workers, 
those who are incompetent and lacking 
in ambition or force, and those of verv 
superior character, who see that the coun¬ 
try needs them, and who have the inde¬ 
pendence and vision needed for natural 
leadership. _ I need not say that young 
men of this latter class are to have in 
the future the greatest opportunity which 
America can offer. The world cannot live 
without the country and the plain, work¬ 
ing farmer. The natural leaders of those 
farmers will, in the future dominate the 
country. 
***** 
I was more interested in the people and 
the cost of their living than in the food. 
It was not a place where the extra rich 
congregate. Many young women evident¬ 
ly eat a light breakfast and perhaps a 
sandwich at noon, and come to this res¬ 
taurant at night for a good meal. They 
are good buyers and get the most food iii 
“made dishes.” At a place like this they 
meet friends and gain a little of “class.” 
The men seemed nervous and highstrung, 
as one would expect in the rush and gam¬ 
ble of city business. Some of them did 
not seem to me well nourished, though 
they ate heartily, mostly of red meat, 
potatoes and bread. No liquors are now 
sold openly. I am told that some guests 
bring a supply with them. Red meat and 
bread probably make good training food 
for a prize fighter, but there is a lack of 
vitamines in such a diet. These men and 
women would be far better off if they 
would cut out part of the meat and eat 
more of the leafy vegetables, like lettuce, 
spinach or tomatoes. Within a few years 
most of these high-tension workers' will 
be obliged to substitute milk for coffee. 
Someone will make milk drinking fash¬ 
ionable, and they will all come in. At 
present milk costs at the rate of 40 a 
quart at this restaurant. At the next 
table to us a little child was eating a piece 
of rare or raw beefsteak and a piece of 
bread. It was a puny, nervous little 
thing, and no wonder. It had never been 
taught to drink milk, and in a family of 
beef-eaters what chance can it have? All 
these people, spending their money freely, 
well dressed and apparently with fair in¬ 
comes. represent, I presume, about one- 
third of New York’s industrial life. Tliev 
every farmer could, now and then, bring 
his family to such sc place and see how „„„ , . , — r~r ,r t~- 
the “other third” lives. It would do us a , ie , e s P ei V? e ^ s no ^ l lvin # 
all good to follow our food to its last ? ose P l,p to ^eir income. They are pay- 
resting place and see for ourselves the in £ mr, more than their food is actually 
high cost of laying it away. It would be W0P !fh ln or< 2-. r to “L 1 *. ,ni der agreeable 
one of the most illuminating (and agree¬ 
able) parts of the study of political econ¬ 
omy which we have surely got to make be¬ 
fore we can straighten out this 35-cent 
dollar blunder. It might give us a kinder 
feeling for the consumer, and it would 
give us no rest until we changed the pres¬ 
ent system of distribution. 
***** 
We had a plain meal, without any ex¬ 
tras, and the bill was $3.85. I gave the 
waiter 25e, which made the total $4.10. 
I realize that we stamped ourselves as - - , - --- 
“pikers” both by the size of our bill and comea from the country direct to the city 
the size of the tip. The average family usna.ly remembers farm life and has sym- 
of three could hardly hope to escape for P ,fl thy for the farmer. His son and grand¬ 
less than $0 at this restaurant, though of re 2 ro .i m the city, are apt to grow 
course there are places where good food L nto , a f, ’ ( 'ling of indifference or contempt 
can be obtained for less. I have a friend * or f fl Tm, because they do not under- 
who h d dinner for his family of six The s . tand - It is a part of our big job to make 
bill w. 3 $13 40. Over at that corner them understand, for this matter of food 
table is a large man with two young distribution cannot be settled so long as 
women. I imagine they represent the producer and co nsumer are at odds with 
conditions. There will be another third 
•—the mechanics and skilled workmen. 
They are the people who carry their din¬ 
ners to their work or patronize some 
cheaper restaurant. They are saving 
money and educating their children. In 
the future they are to be the ruling city 
class. Then there is another class—the 
tenement, house people—ordinary laborers 
who have a struggle for existence. In 
the future I shall take you to dinner with 
a family in each class, that we may un¬ 
derstand where our food goes to and who 
gets the money for it. The man who 
each other. We have got to educate the 
consumer and be educated ourselves. 
***** 
We all went home on a late train. 
Mother went to her Bible class and my 
daughter and I saw something of the 
, _ crowd on Broadway. If any of you ever 
Queer, h or example, what does it cost to • have a chance to see the new inoviee play 
make a good apple pie? At this restau- “Over the Hill,” do not miss it. I think 
rant you pay 20c for one-seventh of a it the most beautiful and touching picture 
fair-sized pje, or 81 40 for the whole. One of life among the common people I have 
boiled potato weighing about five ounces ever seen. It is based on "Will Carleton’s 
costs 15c. For half of a broiler, fried poem “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse ” 
‘Maryland style,” you pay $1.10. For I knew Carletou, and have lived among 
regular “chorus” article and their bill 
will be at least $7 50. There were 10 of 
our people eating at home, and I figured 
that their food would have cost at this 
restaurant about $14. Of the food for 
which we pah] $3.85 I should say that not 
far from 05c went to the original pro- 
3V2 
Children Should 
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but they enjoy a cheering 
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