138 
January 26, 1924 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
] 
Boys and Girls 
By Edward M. Tuttle 
Now the New Year has begun 
Just the best year of them all; 
, let us make it, every one, 
we can do it, great or small 
Coasting Is the Best of Fun. 
Memory Verse 
A JOURNEY 
Although I did not leave my home 
Nor pass a doorway through, 
Last night I journeyed from one land 
Into another new. 
The laud I left was gray and brown. 
The leaves were dancing ’round, 
At play with little childish winds 
Upon the garden ground. 
The land I saw when morning came 
And called me from my sleep, 
Ilad not a bush .or tree I knew, 
Nowhere the leaves lay deep. 
I left the brown, gray, Autumn land, 
Where leaves danced to and fro, 
And journeyed to the Winter land, 
For last night came the snow ! 
—Author? 
Sent by Grace Devitt (11 years). 
New York. 
Here you have Our Page illustrated 
with pictures instead of with drawings. 
I think you will like it. It gives variety, 
and for another thing shows us the happy 
faces of some of our readers. We will plan 
to have a picture page once every three 
or four months this yeai\ 
As I told you would be the case, our 
not having any special subject for this 
January page gives us a chance to use a 
number of letters and poems on all kinds 
of things, "and I know that you will find 
much that is interesting in what we have 
printed here. Every boy and girl who 
is wide awake and active, who goes to 
school each day and takes part at other 
times in the life and work of the home 
and neighborhood, has things' to tell about 
that we would like to hear. It is the 
very best kind of practice when you have 
had some pleasant experience, or learned 
something new in work or in play, to sit 
down and put it into writing. If you 
can do this, knowing you are to send it 
to a friend who will read it with interest, 
and who perhaps will pass it on for many 
boys and girls to share, then you have all 
the more reason for doing it. So don’t 
forget to let your editor hear from you 
quite often.- 
About Forestry and Birds 
The following most interesting letter 
was written in February a year ago, and 
Here's Where I Set Off! Sent by.. 
Margaret Kimberly (11 years) 
Connecticut 
has been kept all this time waiting for 
the proper occasion to print it. These are 
first-hand experiences that we like to hear 
about from our readers: 
Speaking about reforesting, about a 
year ago the Fish and Game Club of this 
town purchased about 1,000 young seed¬ 
lings, mostly pine, hemlock, cedar and so 
forth. The principal of our school told us 
if we wanted to help plant them we might 
be excused from school for the day; if 
not. there would be classes. Of course, 
we wanted to help! Almost the whole 
school turned out. When we reached the 
place w r here they were to be planted, a 
waste pasture with small quantities of 
brush and small timber left on it, we 
Sent by Emma Keidel, New I ork 
were divided into groups of three and 
each group given a stick and 100 seed¬ 
lings. One person made a deep hole, an¬ 
other stuck in the seedling, being careful 
to see that the long root was all in, 
while the third packed the dirt well 
around it. They were planted about three 
feet apart. By noon the 1.000 trees were 
planted, all ready for Nature to make 
them grow. Some day they ought to 
make a valuable pine forest which, with 
proper care, should last a long time. 
Last Fall, while daddy was cutting his 
sweet corn in the garden, lie left a few 
stalks for the birds. This Winter flocks 
A Chickadee at the Windoic. Sent by 
Harold /., New York 
of bluejays besieged the corn. But with¬ 
in the last few days the bluejays disap¬ 
peared, and we wondered what drove 
them away. We soon discovered that the 
cause of their flight was an innocent 
woodpecker, in a black and white jacket 
and red cap, industriously peeking at the 
corn. He would peck for a time, then 
fly to a nearby post, and pack his corn in 
the cracks with firm, swift strokes of his 
determined bill. Then back he would go 
after more corn. My brother nailed a 
cob of corn to a post where it ought to 
be safe enough, but that did not satisfy 
the woodpecker; he went to work with 
unrivaled industry, transferring corn 
from the cob to the various posts about 
the neighborhood. I do not know what 
sent the bluejays away ; the woodpecker 
acts perfectly peaceful, but while that 
persistent creature is working they will 
not come near the garden but will only 
hover wistfully about, alighting now and 
them on neighboring fence posts. 
This letter is getting to be rather long, 
so I will close with best wishes for Our 
Page and its editor, marion nichols 
New York. (Tlyears). 
January ’24 
The wind is blowing very hard, 
The snow is driving fast, 
The last of December is gone, 
And ’23 has past. 
The year of ’24 has come, 
The glad new year is here, 
I hope the year of ’24 
Is full of joy and cheer. 
By ramona hanks (10 years). 
Connecticut. 
An Essay 
I thought I would write an essay on 
the life of William McKinley because his 
birthday comes in this month, and it 
would be a change, as no one, I think, 
has written on the life of a great man 
whose birthday comes in same month. 
WILLIAM M’KINLEY 
William McKinley was born on Jan. 
20. 1843, in Niles, Trumbull Co., O. 
When he was five years old his family 
moved to Poland, O. Here William at¬ 
tended school till he was 17 years old. 
He then taught school in a nearby dis¬ 
trict. where he earned enough money to 
pay his registration fees in the Allegheny 
College, Pennsylvania. He remained 
only a short time when a call to arms 
for the Civil War came. The earnest 
and natriotic young student flung aside 
his books and decided to join the Union 
army. The war being ended, he saw most 
all young men were at school or prepar¬ 
ing for a professional life. He had four 
years of experience in warfare, which 
most young men did not have. 
After the war had ended, his sister, 
Miss Anna McKinley, a school teacher 
of Canton, O.. persuaded William to de¬ 
vote himself to the study of law. He 
then entered the law school at Albany, 
N. Y., in 1865. and remained till 1868. 
He then studied in Judge Glidden’s law 
library and was admitted to the bar. 
Soon after this one of the leading lawyers 
of Canton formed a partnership with 
William McKinley which lasted till 
Judge Belden died in 1870. 
In 1876 McKinley was elected by the 
Canton district to represent them in 
Congress. He became an able Congress¬ 
man. In 1891 the Ohio Republicans 
chose him as candidate for Governor. He 
became a faithful public officer and se¬ 
cured relief for 2,000 miners of the Hock¬ 
ing Valley mining district who were re¬ 
ported to be out of work and destitute in 
1S95. The news reached him at midnight, 
but by 5 a. m„ on his own responsibility, 
a car loaded with provisions worth $1,000 
was sent to the afflicted district. 
McKinley was elected President of the 
United States in 1S96 and remained till 
he was assassinated on Sept. 6, 1901. 
The most important events in his admin¬ 
istration were the declaration of war 
against Spain, the annexation of Hawaii, 
the Pan-American Exposition and the as¬ 
sassination. He was shot at Buffalo and 
died Sept. 14, 1901. martha iiorst 
Pennsylvania. (14 years). 
A Few Rules for Health 
'Sleep with windows open wide, 
Clean the teeth each day ; 
Try to sit and stand erect, 
That’s the proper way. 
At least four "lasses full, a day, 
Of water you should drink, 
And thoroughly to chew your food, 
At every meal time think. 
Wash your hands all nice and clean 
Just before you eat ; 
Take a whole bath frequently, 
Keeping fresh and neat. 
Use a towel all your own, 
Private drinking cup, 
Start today to keep these rules, 
Start—and keep it up ! 
—Author? 
—Sent by Harriet Pischel. 
New York. (12 years). 
A Good Little Letter 
Here is an example of how much can 
be put into a short letter by one of our 
younger readers. Ruth answers the three 
last month’s puzzles, tells just a bit of 
her own life, gives a touch of Nature 
study and sends a rhyme for the box, 
which we will use right here, since the 
box is already full. 
I think the answer to the Nature Puz¬ 
zle is “beggar-ticks.” I think the answer 
to the Book Puzzle is “Daddy Long- 
Legs,” by Jean Webster. It is full of 
funny pictures that the little girl puts 
in her letters. ‘ 
I am almost nine years old. I am in 
the third grade. My mother is my teach¬ 
er and she and I and my brother and sis¬ 
ter drive to school every day. I like na¬ 
ture study, and this year we picked He- 
paticas and pussy willow’s in December. 
I think the answ r er to the other puzzle is 
“Christmas.” 
Here is a rhyme for the January box: 
Back to school and work and fun, 
Let’s do our best now r , everyone. 
New Y'ork. rutii jenkins 
(8 years). 
Helping With the Winter Chores. Sent 
by Margaret Van Vliet, New Jersey 
Feeding the Birds 
I think that a deed of kindness for us 
to do in the Winter is to feed the little 
snowbirds. This is the way: Put up a 
tall post, and on top of this nail a large 
board. Put a box or something at the 
bottom to stand on. Then w’hen the deep 
snow r comes, every morning put some 
bread crumbs and some peeled apples on 
the board. After a few mornings the 
birds will learn to come there for their 
breakfast each day. marian bruster. 
New’ York. 
Outside my window I have a post 
driven in 'the ground. On top of this is 
Trying Out Our Christmas Presents. 
Sent by Isabel Haitt (12 years) 
New York 
a cheese box cover and on that a box set 
on end with a cover for the open side 
that can be closed at night. Inside the 
box are pancakes and fresh meat. The 
box hadn't been there five minutes before 
the chickadees w r ere eating out of it. Six 
chickadees did come, now there are only 
three. I hope that different kinds of 
birds come. grace w’iieat 
New York. (16 years). 
Three Games to Play 
Now and then a reader has described a 
game in his or her letter to your editor, 
and I have been keeping these. We have 
not printed any before, but this is a good 
time to begin, so here are three that can 
be played indoors this Winter. If others 
of you have games you specially like to 
play, indoors or outdoors, write clear de¬ 
scriptions of them and send them in. 
spin the pan 
There can be as many players as con¬ 
venient. They are all numbered—the 
boys take odd numbers and the girls even 
numbers. One player goes in front with 
a pan. He spins it and calls out a num¬ 
ber. The one w’hose number is called 
goes forth and gets the pan. If he gets it 
before it stops spinning he can spin it 
the next time. But if he doesn’t he has 
to pay a forfeit, and the game goes on 
as before. martha makela 
New York. (13 years). 
clothespin game 
Give each player 10 clothespins. At 
some distance in front of them stretch a 
clothesline. Give them a signal to start. 
Have each one take one clothespin and 
put it on the line, then go back after an¬ 
other, and continue until all the pins are 
one the line. The one having all pins on 
the line first wans the game. 
Massachusetts. Caroline powell. 
electric JEW’ELRY 
One person goes out of the room. The 
rest of the people choose some piece of 
jew’elry that someone has on. Then the 
person is called in and told to touch every 
piece of jewelry in the room. They tell 
him that one piece is electrified and that 
when he touches it he will get a shock. 
When he touches the chosen piece every¬ 
body screams and this is supposed to give 
him a shock. Beatrice stevens 
Massachusetts. (16 years). 
Beggar-ticks 
This is but one of many names for the 
weed described by Hazel Francisco in 
last month’s Nature Puzzle. Others are 
Wag Pulls Me All Around. Sent by Marie Buskirk, Neic York 
