The  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
145 
A  Cobblest  one  House 
THE  farm  home  of  Jesse  Sheep  of  Wayne 
County,  N.  1*.,  known  as  “Cobblestone  Manor,” 
is  perhaps  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  what  is  now 
a  lost  art  in  the  building  of  homes.  Constructed  so 
long  ago  that  no  one  knows  the  actual  year,  but  cer¬ 
tainly  dating  back  75  or  more  years,  this  remarkable 
old  home  is  still  in  excellent  condition,  a  sturdy 
example  of  artisanry  of  a  bygone  age,  calling  for 
infinite  pains  and  precision  of  work. 
Some  idea  of  the  deftness  of  the  hand  engaged  in 
the  laying  of  these  stones  Avill  be  seen  in  the  study 
of  the  close-up  picture  showing  the  side  wall  near 
the  window.  By  more  than  a  casual  glance  one  will 
see  that  all  the  stones  which  show  any  tendency  to 
thinness  are  inclined  at  an  angle,  leaning  toward 
the  left.  Not  to  mention  the  skill  required  to  pose 
the  stones  in  such  artistic  fashion,  what  must  have 
been  the  patience  and  perseverance  of  the  one  who 
located  the  cobbles  in  their  first  en¬ 
vironment.  and  collected  them  together 
for  the  construction  work ?  We  cannot 
imagine  one  now  with  the  time  and  de¬ 
termination  to  find  and  assemble  so 
many  similarly  shaped  stones. 
The  problem  is  further  complicated 
when  we  see  a  single  stone,  such  as 
was  sought  after  by  those  old  pioneers 
in  the  building  of  cobblestone  houses. 
Mr.  Sheep  happened  to  have  one  cobble 
that  had  been  kept  about  the  place  as 
a  door  wedge  to  hold  it  open  when  he 
took  possession  of  the  place.  His  wife 
brought  the  stone  out,  and  placing  it 
on  a  newspaper  in  the  doorway,  I 
snapped  a  picture  of  the  single  stone. 
The  nearness  of  the  camera  hardly  per¬ 
mitted  true  proportions,  as  the  stone 
appeared  to  be  about  uniform  in  thick¬ 
ness  at  both  ends,  whereas  in  reality 
it  is  slightly  smaller  at  the  near  end 
facing  the  camera.  Its  length  was  ap¬ 
proximately  one  foot,  and  in  the  build¬ 
ing  operation  stones  of  this  character 
are  laid  in  a  row  on  a  board  within  the 
Avail  of  the  building  and  the  boards, 
tier  above  tier,  left  within  the  Avail 
Avlien  finished.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  construction  work  Avas  not  the 
pastime  of  a  novice,  but  required  con¬ 
summate  skill  and  infinite  patience,  for 
the  Avork  Avas  necessarily  one  of  sIoav 
progress.  The  mortar  was  perfectly 
troweled,  being  smoothed  down  between 
the  stones  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and 
left  with  an  edge  line  as  marking  a 
straight  division  betAveen  each  row  of 
stones. 
In  .Sodus  township  there  are  eight  or 
10  houses  built  after  this  fashion,  but 
in  distant  parts  of  the  State  Avliere  I 
have  been  I  have  found  very  few  of 
this  type  of  farm  home.  Practically 
all  coming  under  my  observation  have 
been  in  this  section  of  New  York  State. 
Some  few  years  ago,  Avhen  a  son  in 
this  town  came  into  possession  of  his 
father's  cobblestone  house,  he  set  about 
enlarging  it  with  a  frame  construction, 
leaving  the  old  part  for  the  ground  floor.  The  par¬ 
titions  Avere  changed  inside,  and  two  windows  in  the 
old  part  were  desired  closed  up,  so  as  to  accommo¬ 
date  the  interior  change.  He  sought  a  reputable 
mason  and  made  known  his  desire  to  close  the  win- 
doAvs,  simulating  as  closely  as  possible  the  cobble¬ 
stone  effect  of  the  lower  part.  The  mason  scratched 
his  head,  and  after  a  deep  and  searching  examina¬ 
tion  of  the  pioneer  Avail,  he  said :  “Bill,  I  can’t 
do  it.”  He  was  yirevailed  upon  to  try,  and  the  owner 
started  to  inspect  every  corner  of  his  farm  in  search 
of  enough  stones  of  shape  and  color  to  carry  out  the 
work.  To  get  enough  he  Avas  compelled  to  go  to  the 
lake  shore,  three  miles  distant.  The  mason  did  his 
best,  coaxing  and  humoring  the  stones  to  fit  as  Avould 
carry  out  the  eye  effect  of  the  original  Avail,  but  it 
was  not  in  him.  A  second  glance  at  the  closed  win- 
dow  space  shows  the  latter-day  work,  and  one  could 
easily  put  his  finger  on  every  stone  laid  in  the  repair 
work  without  mistaking  a  single  stone  in  the  original 
Avail. 
In  making  a  representative  picture  of  the  cobble¬ 
stone  house  I  singled  out  the  Sheep  residence  be¬ 
cause  of  its  well-balanced  proportions  and  the  gen¬ 
erous  use  of  heavier  building  stone,  giving  the  dove¬ 
tail  effect  on  the  corners  and  stately  ornamental 
stone  caps  over  windows  and  door  and  window  sills 
of  stone.  Mr.  Sheep  has  a  farm  of  Avhich  he  may 
justly  be  proud.  a.  h.  fulver. 
Touring  Florida  in  a  Boat 
SEE  your  folks  are  talking  about  touring  to 
Florida.  Two  years  ago  I  Avent  to  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  and  had  a  10-foot  decked  sailing  dory  built. 
In  this  I  followed  the  inland  route  to  the  south. 
This  route  is  kept  up  by  the  Federal  Government. 
The  land  in  these  parts  is  very  close  to  sea  level, 
and  there  are  many  salt  water  inlets  and  salt  or 
semi-salt  lagoons,  rivers  and  channels:  the  inland 
route  by  connecting  up  one  after  another  of  these 
links  with  short  canals,  forms  a  fairly  safe  route 
for  many  motor  boats,  bent  on  both  pleasure  and 
liquor  running.  In  Georgia  the  ducks  simply 
swarmed  along  the  route,  and  the  banging  at  times 
would  be  homelike  to  our  overseas  men.  I  Avould 
say  to  stop  at  Indian  River.  Miami  gets  too  Avarm, 
and  down  from  Miami  to  Key  West  is  more  open, 
although  not  very  unsafe  if  your  boat  does  not  draw 
over  a  foot  or  18  inches  of  water.  Key  West  is  out 
of  the  tourist  travel,  and  much  too  hot  for  my  taste. 
There  are  two  or  three  canals  leading  to  Lake 
Okeechobee,  in  the  center  of  Florida,  and  others 
which  go  across  to  the  Avest  coast.  A  motor  boat  is 
the  only  right  Avay  to  go.  Sailing  is  cheap,  but  slow, 
and  with  head  Avinds  and  tides  and  narrow  channels 
sailing  is  too  poor  fun.  I  remember  one  open  30-foot 
motor  boat  from  Massachusetts,  I  think.  Avith  an  old 
felloAV  about  GO  and  his  old  lady,  of  similar  age, 
dressed  roughly — especially  she — and  with  his  dun¬ 
nage  and  stuff  piled  up  in  stern,  bound  South.  Every¬ 
one  plans  to  live  on  board  these  boats,  so  they  escape 
snakes  and  bugs.  Charts  can  be  had  from  Washing¬ 
ton  very  cheap.  joh.a  buchanax. 
NoA-a  Scotia. 
R.  X.-Y. — This  idea  of  seeing  Florida  in  a  boat  is 
a  new  one.  For  some  years  now  there  has  been  a 
demand  for  an  inside  route  all  the  way  from  XeAv 
York  to  Jacksonville.  By  cutting  canals  and  deep¬ 
ening  river’s  it  Avould  be  possible  to  make  a  water 
route  across  New  Jersey  to  the  Delaware  and  then 
across  through  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia 
to  the  inlets  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  so 
on  doAvn  the  coast.  This  Avould  give  a  clear  passage 
for  motor  boats  and  provide  a  safe  channel  for  war 
times.  It  AA'ould  cost  considerable  money,  and  Avith 
the  present  enormous  public  debt  no  one  seems  to 
care  to  pust  the  matter  hard  at  this  time. 
Making  the  Boarders  Pay 
HE  article  entitled  “Do  Your  Boarders  Pay 
Their  Bills?”  on  page  1510  is  indeed  a  great 
truth,  whether  applied  to  the  dumb  animals  or  to 
ourselves.  I  would  like  to  submit  for 
publication  in  your  good  paper  this 
same  article,  but  reAvritten  and  apply¬ 
ing  to  us  farmers  ourselves. 
Some  farmers  are  like  sucessful  bus¬ 
iness  men.  Others  are  in  the  class  of 
second-rate  business  men.  The  differ¬ 
ence  is  in  the  way  they  think,  plan  and 
manage.  A  successful  farmer  not  only 
feeds  his  crops  and  animals  well,,  and 
makes  them  thoroughly  comfortable 
by  intelligent,  scientific  management, 
but  he  also  knows  what  his  products 
cost  to  produce,  and  whether  or  not  he 
can  sell  them  at  a  profit.  If  he  cannot 
see  a  profitable  market  ahead,  out  they 
go,  and  he  wastes  no  more  time  on 
Sentiment  plays  no  part  in  the 
a  cold  cash  proposition 
business  farmer. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  other  fellow 
lie  permits  faith,  hope  and  uncertainty 
to  play  a  prominent  pa*rt,  Avhich  makes 
him  Avliat  he  is — a  second-rate  farmer, 
lie  welcomes  most  all  kinds  of  schemes 
with  great  faith  and  visions  of  revenue. 
He  never  knows  just  what  any  product 
costs  to  produce,  and  when  prices  are 
low  he  demurs,  but  hopes  on,  trusting 
that  something  will  turn  up  and  it  will 
come  out  all  right  in  the  end.  -And  it 
usually  does,  but  not  at  his  end. 
How  is  it  at  your  farm?  Are  all  of 
your  products  bringing  in  a  little  more 
than  they  cost  you  to  produce  and  mar¬ 
ket?  When  you  walk  down  the  busy 
village  streets  past  the  line  of  success¬ 
ful  business  places,  do  you  feel  that 
you  are  conducting  a  business  equally 
as  profitable  as  the  men  inside  these 
places,  and  doing  it  equally  as  intelli¬ 
gently  and  efficiently?  If  you  don’t,  do 
you  simply  return  home  and  then  just 
criticize  these  men  for  being  success¬ 
ful?  Or  does  it  open  your  eyes  and 
impel  you  to  begin  an  analysis  of  your¬ 
self  and  your  business  at  once  to  find 
the  cause  of  your  financial  condition, 
and  then  when  you  find  it  to  stir  your 
boots  until  the  trouble  is  removed? 
Just  what  do  you  do  when  your  farm  products  do 
not  return  you  even  the  cost  of  production?  Don’t 
blame  the  product :  it  isn’t  to  blame,  u.  w.  avitter. 
Delaware  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Be  Careful  of  Electric  Wires 
In  an  E  noticed  several  sketches  and  diagrams 
lately  in  recent  issues  giving  ideas  as  to  Iioav 
to  make  an  automatic  switch  to  turn  on  the  electric 
lights  in  chicken  houses.  Each  one  of  these  devices 
is  in  direct  violation  of  the  code  issued  by  the 
National  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  and  Avhich 
is  the  basis  of  the  installation  of  electric  Aviring 
throughout  the  United  States.  This  code  requires 
that  every  device  installed  in  electric  work  shall  be 
approved,  and  all  insurance  companies  cover  this 
Avhen  they  require  a  certificate  of  inspection  to  be 
made  when  electric  lighting  or  power  is  used  in  any 
building  covered  by  their  policies. 
If  your  readers  will  note  every  policy  distinctly 
provides  that  electricity  may  be  used  in  the  building 
coered  b.v  said  policy  only  if  the  various  Avires,  fix¬ 
tures  and  appliances  have  been  inspected  and  ap- 
