Ihe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
005 
Things To Think About 
The object of this department is to give readers a chance to express themselves on farm 
matters. Not long articles can be used—just short, pointed opinions or suggestions. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER does not always endorse what is printed here. You might 
call this a mental safety valve. 
Notice to Auto Thieves 
We have a very good roadside market, 
and do lots of good business every season, 
but have lots of trouble with some buy¬ 
ers who stop at our farm for fruit or 
berries and help themselves to more than 
the amount which they buy. For in¬ 
stance, 'a/ party will stop for some grapes, 
five or six persons will come up, asking 
the price of a half or full basket, and 
while thev are being cut these persons 
will help themselves to all they can eat, 
which often amounts to more than they 
buv. The same happens to berries and 
all' other kinds of fruit. Now for this 
season I intend to put up a large sign, 
which will catch everyone’s eye as they 
come up, which will tell them that this 
farm is no free-lunch counter, as our 
living depends upon the sale of what we 
raise. But what troubles me now is how 
to word this sign, and that is why I come 
to you to help me out. No doubt others 
of your readers have the same troubles 
and will make use of such signs. V. L. 
Ramsey, N. J. 
We know that this is a live subject 
on many farms—so live that if you let 
it live it will kill the farm. The people 
who do this are more respectable than 
the true “auto hog.” but they often cause 
even greater loss. As for a sign, that 
will vary with conditions and the people 
you have to deal with. A sign, like an 
advertisement, ought to express your ex¬ 
ert feelings, and the chances are that 
you can write it better than anyone else. 
In our own case we should use about the 
following: 
“take notice. 
“This farm is not a free-lunch counter 
or a sample room. We must make our 
living from the sale of these goods. We 
would not think of helping ourselves to 
your stock in trade. We guarantee good 
quality and good measure. We do our 
own picking. Patrons will please not 
touch or handle the goods!” 
That ought to make them understand, 
although we know that some of them are 
pretty tough. 
The Auto Hogs Have Started 
.Tust a line to report that the Spring 
robberies have started. Yesterday, while 
I was feeding the poultry, and before I 
could reach them, a large touring car 
containing a chauffeur and a number of 
ladies ( ! !) stopped and broke off a lot 
of my lilac shrubs, and took them away. 
I got the number of the license plate— 
17.1220—and have written to Secretary 
of State for the owner’s name and ad¬ 
dress. When I receive it I intend to 
write to them. 
This trespass law as we have it now is 
utterly useless for us farmers. What we 
need is the power to arrest and take into 
custody these vandals whenever we can 
catch them. Hope you keep after the 
change in law of trespass as advocated 
in The R. N.-Y. lately, until we get 
something practical that will stop this 
thieving. In Spring it is our flowers, and 
the rest of the year it is our vegetables; 
fruits or nuts or even shade trees from 
our forests until Christmas time; then 
they take Christmas trees, and I suppose 
they would take the building if they 
could put them in their machines. 
Long Island. HOWARD C, SWEZEY. 
Judging from our own experience you 
are not likely to get much satisfaction bv 
following up that number; but keep right 
after them._ We will got a trespass law 
yet that will enable us to punish these 
auto thieves. 
Combine Against the Auto Hogs 
( Your recent comment on an item in the 
Bronx Home News was certainly timely. 
The matter of theft by automobilists is 
becoming a serious menace to the peace 
and profit of the farmer, especially those 
who live on main highways near large 
cities. The countryman and his produce 
are considered fair plunder by these pi¬ 
rates, and many of us deem the punish¬ 
ment which you suggest—horsewhip or 
shingle—too mild. Our flower and veg¬ 
etable gardens are robbed, our orchards 
pillaged, and our Sundays and holidays 
are filled with annoyance. Nor is the 
commission of these acts confined to the 
lowly “dip” and burglar. The Packards, 
Pierce-Arrows and Cadillacs all carry 
their fair share of these country-plunder¬ 
ing thieves. I have personally compiled 
a list which would make interesting read¬ 
ing. on it appearing a police magistrate, 
a doctor, a contractor, a wealthy woman, 
and so on. Almost every other farmer has 
a similar list. 
Tou may recall Mr. Lorimer’s famous 
editorial in the Saturday Eveninq Post 
entitled “Stop, Thief.” He wrote me 
that several of his wealthy neighbors were 
actually seeking to sell their country 
homes rather than be subjected to the 
treatment received from the lawless tour¬ 
ist. One of my neighbors has cut down 
his peach trees rather than have them de¬ 
stroyed. Our town maintains a police 
officer on duty Sundays and holidays. lie 
answers each call from an annoyed farm¬ 
er, takes the thief before the justice who 
is waiting, and in the meantime keeps in 
touch with his home where the calls come 
in. The fines have paid the officer, the 
maintenance of his car and left a balance 
for the town. But this, while some help, 
does not seem to abate the nuisance much, 
as it receives little or no general publicity. 
Some time ago the public press carried 
an item to the effect that Maseachusett 
had enacted a law to the effect that the 
license of any person convicted of theft of 
farm products would be revoked. This 
and some further change in the penal law 
making the offense a felony is what we 
need. You can do it. Will you come over 
into Macedonia and help us? The ques¬ 
tion requires no answer. Your long rec¬ 
ord speaks volumes for what you have 
done for rural residents. If you will start 
the campaign for some drastic legislation 
'I know you will succeed, and I believe 
you will be overwhelmed with help from 
individuals, organizations and the press in 
general. carl e. wiiitney. 
R. N.-Y.—We will gladly go over into 
Macedonia or anywhere else to help in 
this matter. It is the worst sort of a 
nuisance, and we must get together and 
fight it. We still think that a horsewhip 
or shingle applied so that some of these 
male and female thieves would be com¬ 
pelled to ride home standing up would 
have a wholesome effect. Publicity is 
what we need. Give us actual facts, ear 
numbers and names of the thieves, if pos¬ 
sible. In Massachusetts the law gives the 
officials the power to revoke licenses in 
case of larceny. 
Right After the Auto Hogs 
Here in Ohio we have what is called 
the Protective League, which comprises 
or constitutes the Ohio 1 ’ural police. There 
are over 5,000 in the State. Each small 
town will have its own league of any¬ 
where from 50 to 200 members. These 
small leagues are all members of the 
county organization, and all the counties 
are bound together in the big State or¬ 
ganization, which can make itself heard. 
Last year this Ohio rural police did good 
work in the way of catching auto, chicken, 
horse and, in fact, all kinds of thieves, 
besides protecting the property of the 
members. Let the good work go on, and 
in time we will show the “auto hogs,” as 
you call them, that they cannot take what 
they wish from the wayside without pay¬ 
ing for it in some why. If not with 
money, they may have a chance to carry 
home a charge of shot in their legs. 
Ohio. M. R. WOODWARD. 
Loyalty to the Minister 
The first sentence in an editorial on 
page 568 says: “Many of us consider 
the revival of the rural church one of the 
most important needs of modern farm 
life.” That is certainly very true. I 
wish to add in this connection that min¬ 
isters are not exempt from keen pangs 
any more than the laymen of their flock, 
although some seem to forget that their 
pastors are human with sensibilities and 
rights as have other men. I have knenvn 
of cases where pastors have suffered in¬ 
tensely by the thoughtless acts of those 
who would be their friends. But there 
are other cases of affliction put upon min¬ 
isters by more culpable nets, and that is 
the disloyalty of their people. Instead 
of rallying to the aid of their pastors 
and sustaining them in the Master’s serv¬ 
ice, they begin to find fault and pick 
flaws, and within two or three years 
worry them into a resignation. All the 
caviling criticisms of irreligious pew- 
holders arc eagerly caught up and re¬ 
peated, until his uTTulness is destroyed 
and he is driven off with his wounded 
heart into some new and equally torment¬ 
ing field of labor. This is a sharp indict¬ 
ment to bring a professed people of God, 
but stern facts warrant the statement. 
If all the pangs and bitter disappoint¬ 
ments and heartaches that are hidden be¬ 
hind the study walls and family altars of 
faithful ministers could be revealed to the 
public eye they would make up a terrible 
cloud of witnesses. They would explain 
the secret of many a spiritual drought 
and many a fruitful field turned into a 
desert and many a torn and desolate 
church. L. w. G. 
Cats and Bakeries 
Apropos of the item in The R. N.-Y. 
in regard to the cat in the bakery, I 
should say it was just what some of the 
bakeries needed. It reminded me of a 
time when I went into the highest class 
bakery here and saw a cat lying on the 
counter. It was some time before I could 
get waited on. After a time the cat got 
up and walked away. The lady clerk 
then placed some loaves of fresh bread 
right on that spot and left them there. 
While I had no thought of “disease,” I 
was much surprised that she should do 
such an unclean thing, for nothing could 
have induced me to eat that bread, and I 
have not bought at that bakery since. 
Torrington, Conn. w. A. b. 
Don’t think of re-roofing merely as a matter of 
dollars and cents. Look at it, rather, as an oppor¬ 
tunity to improve the appearance of your home. 
The cost will he surprisingly small, and the attrac¬ 
tiveness of the house will be immeasurably in¬ 
creased if you build the new roof with Barrett 
Everlastic Shingles. 
For these shingles, surfaced with real crusned 
slate in rich permanent shades of red or green, 
lend distinctiveness to every building they cover. 
You can usually lay them on top of the old roof. 
But most important of all, they are moderate in 
cost and give years of service. 
Be sure to get Everlastic when you buy. 
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