320 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 23, 1!)24 
Hope Farm Notes 
We have heard much of late about the 
subconscious mind—in which memories or 
mental pictures are tucked away and tem¬ 
porarily forgotten, only to flash out upon 
us at unexpected moments. Some people 
refuse to admit that there is any such 
thing. I have no time to argue about it. 
I will simply relate a few things which 
surely came to me during a recent rather 
thrilling incident. When I was a boy I 
read DeQuincey’s essay on “A Vision of 
Sudden Death,'* and it made such an im¬ 
pression upon me that for years I could 
not throw it out of mind. It is the story 
of a man riding at night on the top of an 
old English stage coach. The horses were 
galloping at full speed to make up for lost 
time. Suddenly they came to a point 
where two roads met with a bridge over 
a stream and just at this junction they 
saw in the darkness the dim lights on 
another stage coach smashing down to 
meet them ! There was no possible chance 
to stop the horses on either coach. On 
they came apparently headed straight for 
destruction. There seemed no possible 
hope for avoiding a crash, which meant 
instant death. DeQuincey pictures vivid- 
ly how, face to face with death, a flood 
of thoughts flashed through the mind. 
Reason seemed paralyzed, hopelessly lost 
as the two coaches came together, 1‘ or 
an instant all was black as if what we 
call “life” was passing out through the 
shadow. Hut there was no crash, lhe 
wheels of one coach missed the other by 
the fraction of an inch. It seemed as if 
some human-like shudder passed through 
the great carriage, but it went free and 
the panting horses halted a few rods be¬ 
yond—weakened by fear yet safe! 
* * * * * 
It was a tremendous word picture to 
me, and for years I could not get it out 
of mind that I should go through such an 
experience some day. 1 remember once 
riding on the train from Atlantic City to 
Philadelphia. Two railroad tracks run 
side by side. ' I glanced from the window 
and saw a train on the other track rush¬ 
ing along with ours. There was no pos¬ 
sible danger except from a boiler ex¬ 
plosion, yet that old story of DeQuincey’s 
flashed into mind and actually filled me 
with fear. Then as a boy I read “Whip 
and Spur,” by Geo. E. Waring. He tells 
among other things of a battle or skirmish 
during the Civil War. Waring organized 
a regiment of cavalry out of what he 
called “Missouri Dutchmen”—that is 
German immigrants, mostly farmers. 
They were mounted on big. clumsy farm 
horses, and were without' skill or disci¬ 
pline when a small Confederate army in¬ 
vaded their territory. Waring was a 
prompt, decisive man, and before the 
Confederates could prepare their line ot 
battle he ordered his horsemen to charge. 
Some of them were such poor riders that 
they were actually tied to their saddles. 
Most of the horses were frightened at the 
firing, and ran away, but happily they 
ran toward the enemy screaming as 
horses often do in fright—with their 
unwilling riders yelling in German, lhe 
Confederates saw this shrieking mass ot 
flying hoofs and hands sweeping upon 
them, and the effect was so terrifying 
that they broke and 
them never stopping 
Arkansas. It was a - 
Those farm horses ran till they were ex¬ 
hausted. and then limped slowly back, not 
knowing that their very fright and blunder 
had won a victory. 
Sic * * * '*1 
ran — some of 
till they reached 
perfect stampede. 
Then of course most of us have read of 
the fearful struggle between horse and 
men at the battle of Waterloo As a boy 
I sat up till morning reading Victor 
Hugo’s story of that great battle. lhe 
English infantry formed “hollow squares. 
The men stood in lines three deep. The 
men in the first line put one knee oii the 
ground and held their muskets against the 
knee with the bayonet pointing up. The 
second line bent over with the bayonets 
pointing straight out, with the third line 
firing over their heads. And the business 
of the French cavalry was to try to break 
these squares. They were mounted on big 
heavy horses, trained and unafraid, and 
they rushed right into these bayonets. 
The French broke seven out of 13 squares, 
but the others closed up after each charge 
and saved the army. I got the lesson of 
this In Missouri those soldiers did not 
know ichat to do in the face of that yell¬ 
ing mob. At Waterloo the men had been 
drilled and trained for months to defend 
themselves against horsemen. They knew 
just what to do, and each one felt that the 
fate of the army might depend upon the 
way he held his bayonet against the breast 
of some big gray horse. Then, nearly 30 
years ago, I saw a near-tragedy in New 
York. It was back in the old days of 
stone pavements and horses. Autos and 
asphalt were reposing in the brains of in¬ 
ventors and in the black lakes of Central 
America. A. heavily loaded truck came 
along Center Street, the wheels slipping 
and sliding down a little incline—the 
horses struggling to hold it back. A good- 
sized boy ran across ahead of the horses, 
and when just in front of them his foot 
slipped, the wagon tongue swung and 
knocked him right in front of the wheels. 
It did not seem possible that he could 
escape, but with rare presence of mind 
he began rolling sidewise and actually 
rolled himself out of the track of the 
wheels. They missed his foot by about 
six inches. The driver was white with 
terror, but the boy picked himself up, 
shrugged his shoulders, put his hands in 
his pockets and walked off whistling as 
if he had just made a home run playing 
baseball. I never knew what became of 
him, but he deserved to be elected Presi¬ 
dent for that exhibition of cool nerve and 
presence of mind. 
:Js * * * * 
All these things and many others like 
them have been stored in mind apd for¬ 
gotten. I little expected to find practical 
use for them, but they all flooded over me 
to good advantage the other day. You 
may believe in the subconscious mind or 
not, as you like, but what about this ex¬ 
perience': 1 The other morning mother 
and I started for New York together. 
She was to see a dear friend who is mak¬ 
ing a brave but well-nigh hopeless struggle 
for life at a hospital. Those of you who 
know something of New York life will 
understand how the great army of com¬ 
muters comes pouring into the city every 
morning. It is hard to explain the situa¬ 
tion to one who has never witnessed this 
orderly rush of humanity. There had 
been an ice storm through the night, and 
all the streets and walks were wet and 
slippery. We decided to take the ferry 
across the river, although I usually go 
under the Hudson in the tube or tunnel. 
When the tide is high, as it was that, 
morning, the river rises, and the great 
ferryboats are lifted up so that loaded 
teams entering these boats must drive up 
a steep incline, and extra power or speed 
will be needed to carry the load up. It 
is often a desperate struggle and fight 
for the overloaded horses to crawl upon 
these boats. Failure to remember that 
was my undoing. We missed the boat, 
but it is a phrt of the business to make 
a run for it. That is a habit which keeps 
one in practice. A heavily loaded truck 
drawn by two great gray horses was en¬ 
tering the ferry house and making for 
the next boat. The horses were walking 
slowly and mother easily and safely ran 
ahead of them. I followed, but just as I 
did so the driver cracked his whip and 
urged his horses into a run to gain the 
power needed to carry his load to the 
boat. And they ran right at me without 
r..y knowing that they had increased their 
speed. The first I knew I felt their great 
hoofs on the boards and glancing up I 
saw these great gray creatures, frantic 
from th whip and their desire to put the 
last ounce of power into their collars, 
right upon me. I tried to jump out of 
the way, but my foot slipped on the ice 
and there was no power in the spring. 
The driver was screaming and pulling at 
his lines, but on these great creatures 
came, their hoofs thundering on the floor. 
jf: £ $ ijc :Je. 
It was another “Vision of Sudden 
Death”—no more, no less. I cannot be¬ 
gin to tell you with what inconceivable 
rapidity the mind works at such a mo¬ 
ment. DeQuincey’s story came to me 
in full detail. I thought of that scream¬ 
ing mob of “Dutchmen” in Missouri. 
Looking into the faces of those big horses 
it seemed as if I could see something 
human in their eyes. It seemed as if 
they were trying to say “We don’t want 
to hurt you, but how can we stop?” Those 
who say that at such moments the mind 
goes dark and blank are wrong. My mind 
was clear and wonderfully acute. I 
know just how those English soldiers at 
Waterloo felt when the French horses 
rushed upon them—but I had no bayonet 
to keep them back. The horses were 
struggling to hold back and the driver 
pulled with all liis strength on one line 
to try to swing them away. The wagon 
tongue swung about as they struggled, and 
struck me a side blow somewhere on the 
lower ribs. I did not seem to care where 
it fell, at any rate it sent me flat in front 
of those horses as they struggled and 
stamped to hold back. There I lay watch¬ 
ing those great hoofs coming near and 
nearer. They looked as large as barn 
doors to me! What do you think of at 
such a time? The mind is clear—working 
like lightning—you are filled with won¬ 
der at the multitude of things which 
crowd instantly through the brain. I could 
not imagine why I should fall down. It 
is curious but I remember thinking “a 
tongue in the back!” Human tongues have 
hit me in that place before, but it re¬ 
mained for a wagon tongue to knock me 
down. “But while I am down I am not 
out /” 
There flashed into mind the mental 
picture of that boy, 30 years before, rol¬ 
ling away from that wagon wheel. All 
I remember now is that I rolled just as 
the boy did. over and over, away from the 
hoofs and wheels. One of these big hoofs 
struck the floor not six inches from my 
head, but I rolled and Captain Fred 
Wendelpen of the Erie marine service 
caught me by the shoulders and with a 
quick jerk pulled me out of danger. 
* $ * * # 
I was not hurt in the least, and I could 
“I’ll Take 
a Chance!” 
T HE thought that goes with the 
cup of coSee at the evening meal 
is a disturbing one. “It may keep me 
awake tonight!” 
The something [caffeine] in coffee 
that keeps so many folks awake nights, 
is entirely absent in Postum—the de¬ 
licious, pure cereal beverage. The dif¬ 
ference means a full night’s rest and 
a bright tomorrow. 
Postum 
for Health 
“There’s a Reason” 
Postum comes in two forms: 
Instant Postum [in tins] pre¬ 
pared instantly in the cup by 
the addition of boiling water. 
Postum Cereal [in packages] 
for those who prefer the flavor 
brought out by boiling fully 
20 minutes. The cost of either 
form is about one-half cent a 
cup. 
At grocers everywhere 
PAINT 
$ 1.25 
PER 
Gallon 
ORDER DIRECT FROM FACTORY 
We will send you as many gallons as you 
want of good quality red or brown 
BARN PAINT 
upon receipt of remittance. We are paint special¬ 
ists and can supply you with paint for any pur¬ 
pose. Tell us your wants and let us quote you 
low prices. We can save you money by shipping 
direct from our factory. c>atisfactionGuaranteed. 
On orders for thirty gallons or over we will prepay the 
freight within a radius of three hundred miles. 
AMALGAMATED PAINT CO. 
Factory: 372 WAYNE ST., JERSEY CITY, N. J. 
80-ACRE Eastern Shore MARYLAND FARM 
g.SO per A. On State concrete road. 1 mile from town, ex¬ 
cellent strawberry farm: level, light soil; good buildings. 
$40 an acre, cash; balance, easy payments. Write for 
our free Catalog describing this and many other farms. 
MATTHEWS FARM AGENCY. Inc. 
1007M3, Market St. Wilmington, Delaware 
Days Free Tria l 
SEND^b 
MONEY 
iree Timet 
ranger Than 
ickle-Harnese — 
ilsh Harness has no 
ckles to tear straps, no , 
igs to wear straps, no buckle 
les to weaken them. Walsh ■ 
ecial Test Leather—explained 
big free book—double strength 
d wear of ordinary harness leather 
•* Down After 30 Days Free Trial 
^Balance monthly. Return if not sat- 
L/isfactory. Sold only direct by mail to 
you. Made in all styles—back pad. 
e backer, breechingless, etc. Write tor 
ee catalog-, now while you think of it 
JAMES M. WALSH , Pres. 
WALSH HARNESS CO. 
639 Keefe Ave. Milwaukee, W»«. 
.law itio j vu n j ———— — 
30 days free, as thousands 
in every state have done. 
Costs Less—Lasts Long- 
r—The Walsh is the 
world’8 strongest 
harness. Is easily 
adjusted to any 
size horse in 
ten minutes. 
FREE 
GJ0QK, 
BADGER’S 
Boot and Shoe Drier 
Will dry the wettest boots 
or other footwear in 5 to 
20 minutes on any stove 
or heater. Rustproof will 
last a lifetime. Guaran¬ 
teed satisfaction or money 
back. Sent postpaid C.01). 
for $1.25, 
THE BADGER MFG. CO. 
Manchester Center, Vermoitf 
If Your Dealer does not' handle 1 
Write LeRoy Plow Co., LeRoy, N.Y. 
LUBRICATING OILS 
AND GREASES FOR EVERY PURPOSE 
By shipping direct from Pennsylvania refinery we save 
you money and furnish the very best quality. We slop 
"in 55, 30 and 15 gal. drums, a faucet with every drum. Ask 
for prices on Automobile Oil, Tractor Oil, Gas Engine 
Oil Cylinder Oil, Cream Separator Oil, Castor Machine 
Oil &c. REFINERS’ DISTRIBUTING CO. 
Box 254 lOILJCITY PA. 
Kill RatsK 
In France the World’s greatest la¬ 
boratory has discovered a germ that 
kills rats and mice by science. Ab¬ 
solutely safe. Cannot harm human 
I. ,i — beings, dogs,eats, birds,chickens or 
pets. Quickly clear dwellings and outbuildings, with 
no offensive after-effects. It is called Danysz Virus. 
. Get our free book on rat s and 
Ffda BOOK mice, telling about VIRUS 
■ ■ an d how to get some. 
T. B. Virus, Ltd. 12J W. 15th Street New York 
EDMONDS’ 
POULTRY 
ACCOUNT 
BOOK 
Price, $1.00 
To Canada,** 1.25 
If you keep only ten or a 
dozen hens, there will be 
Satisfaction and Profit in 
knowing just how the 
account stands. This book 
will tell the whole story. 
The account may he begun 
at any time, and the balance 
struck at any time. Simple 
and Practical. 
For sale by 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St., New York 
