The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
811 
Things To Think About 
A Maine Parson’s Gymnasium 
I am enclosing a small photo of my¬ 
self and little son, not yet four years 
old, sawing wood beside the church. You 
can just see the church and the parson¬ 
age is in sight. I cut about six cords 
of large birch, and have sawed all of 
that pile, and have it nearly split up. 
It makes good exercise and gives a per¬ 
son a chance to get next to the good 
folk who know what hard work is. We 
are working in this community with a 
group of boys and girls of all ages. Have 
a large group of boys from 15 to 20. 
Maine. rev. w. crosby Hamilton. 
The picture shows Mr. Hamilton as 
he looks out of the pulpit preaching at 
the sawbuck—good exercise and a good 
example. What sermons some of the 
pastors of our fashionable churches 
would preach if they would saw a cord 
It was chance that offered me a place 
on a Central New York dairy farm dur¬ 
ing the turbulent times of 1917. Reared 
in a metropolitan atmosphere, I could 
not harness a horse or milk a cow until 
that Summer. At the end of that Sum¬ 
mer I returned to the city to finish my 
schooling, but with the return of Spring 
off I started for the farm. I have worked 
on dairy farm© each succeeding year, and 
as I obtain more and more experience I 
like the game better and better. Years 
ago I made up my mind that this was to 
be my life work, and have worked and 
saved a little each month, with a New 
York dairy farm as my goal. Reading so 
many complaints of farming conditions, 
however, half convinced me that success 
for a dairy farmer is an impossibility. 
Still, my ambition to own a dairy farm 
remained. Heedless youth, scorning 
words of wisdom from elder©, as it were. 
Then I read Mr. Mather’s article. Thank 
heaven, there is at least one successful 
Parson Bill and Billy Jr. at the Woodpile 
of wood a week. Some of them now at¬ 
tempt to discuss the labor question. How 
a bucksaw and a birch log would enlight¬ 
en them! 
Hardening a Soft Body 
I am seeking information on a very im¬ 
portant matter, and wonder if you will 
be good enough to help me out on same. 
Thirty years of indoor city life has made 
my body soft and flabby, with the result 
that for the past two years my health 
has been greatly impaired and my .general 
physical condition weakened to a great 
extent. Now I feel quite sure that there 
is only one cure for such a condition, and 
that is an active out-of-door life, out in 
the country on a modern, up-to-date farm. 
I am 42 years old, single, and in com¬ 
parison with most of the city folks am 
in fairly good condition, but not good 
enough to satisfy myself; that is why I 
am trying to make the greatest change of 
my life. j. m. p. 
New York. 
Of one thing you may be sure! A good 
active job on a farm will harden up that 
“soft and flabby body” as few other 
things will, but it will require, an iron will 
to carry you through when the days get 
hot and the long grind of fighting weeds 
and insects and disease starts in. If you 
hang to it you will slowly harden up and 
learn to take joy in the job. You will 
hardly be worth your board to begin with 
on a businesslike farm. Why not ad¬ 
vertise for a job, stating just what you 
want and how you are situated? 
Light in the Farm Darkness 
I have just finished reading ,T. D. 
Mather’s article on page 703, and I want 
to express my appreciation of it, and the 
wish that more farmer© who have made a 
success of their business would take the 
time to write just such a cheering article. 
If they could know what such encourag¬ 
ing sentiments mean to some of the 
younger generation who wish to make 
farming their life work, they would, I be¬ 
lieve, feel amply rewarded for their time 
and effort. 
I cannot help but admire the policy of 
The R. N.-Y. in voicing both side© of a 
question, but this is the first time I have 
noticed the bright side of the “farmiug- 
as-a-business” question. Again and again 
I have asked myself this question : “How 
can a father expect his son to join him 
in his business when repeatedly the pes¬ 
simistic prophecies of the father announce 
to the world at large that it is merely a 
matter of time when the land will be sold 
for taxes and he himself driven into the 
poorhouse?” 
farmer among the multitude. Thanks, 
Mr. Mather; thanks for your ray of light 
in the darkness. T. c. whitlock, jr. 
New Jersey. 
License for Farm Truck 
I agree with Mr. Howes of Orleans 
Co.. N. Y., that the license for Ford farm 
trucks is altogether too high. I think he 
is mistaken in thinking that all Ford ton 
truck owner© pay $24. I knew of several 
last year who only paid $16, and one of 
them at least, was hauling heavy loads 
seven days a week. No doubt they ought 
to have paid $24, according to law. I 
think the law says if the combined weight 
of truck and load is over 4000 lbs. they 
should pay $24. There is certainly noth¬ 
ing right about it, when one man pays 
$16 and another has to pay $24 for the 
same size truck. Of course/there might 
be once in a while a man who never loaded 
heavily enough to exceed 4000 lbs, truck 
and all, but he would have to haul less 
than 2000 lb©, for the trucks weigh more 
than that. f. w. 
Payment of Pupils’ Transportation 
We have been having a little argument 
in our district about sending our scholars 
to high school. We have three pupils 
(all under 16) who have finished the 
grades and must attend school. Is the 
district obliged to pay their transporta¬ 
tion to and from high school? They have 
to go a distance of ©ix miles and it makes 
quite a burden on the parents. Two of 
these pupils will be 16 nevt October, but 
will finish high school next year. Last 
year the district voted to give them $50 
each toward their carfare, but this"-year 
seems very much opposed to doing so. 
Can they be compelled to pay this? Also, 
if the district votes to throw up the 
school and give each scholar in the dis¬ 
trict $50 to go in which direction most 
convenient, will it be legal? Part of the 
pupils are nearest to one school and part 
much nearer another. e. h. b. 
New York. 
There seems to be no provision for the 
payment of transportation to high school; 
the district, however, must pay tuition. 
The Education Department has ruled 
that where a district is dissolved or its 
territory annexed to another district, the 
consolidated district is under obligation 
to provide transportation of pupils in the 
dissolved district who are obliged to 
travel an excessive distance in order to 
attend school. n. t. 
“Your boy is trying to write poetry, 
you say?” “Yes.” “Why don’t you dis¬ 
courage him?” “Oh, the*editors will at¬ 
tend to that.”—Boston Transcript. 
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ADVENTURES IN SILENCE 
By HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD 
This is the first serious attempt to interpret the peculiar and adventurous life 
of the hard-of-h*aring. Beautifully hound in cloth, 288 pages. $ 1.00, postpaid. 
The Rural New-Yorker, 333 W. 30th Street, New York City 
