784 
7ht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
May  26,  192?. 
Come,  Let  Us  Take  a  Motor  Trip 
Part  I. 
Now  is  the  time  when  we  are  all  mak¬ 
ing  plans  for  our  Summer  motor  trip. 
Everybody’s  doing  it,  so  a  few  leaves 
from  an  old-timer’s  book  of  experience 
may  contain  a  hint  or  two  of  value  to 
those  who  are  yet  novices. 
Those  who  are  looking  for  tales  of  ad¬ 
venture,  of  “hairbreadth  ’scapes’’  by  sea 
or  land,  may  pass  on  to  more  thrilling 
stories,  for  this  is  a  plain,  unvarnisheu 
tale  of  how  two  gray-haired,  bespectacled 
women  with  two  little  girls  are  wont  to 
journey  each  Summer  unattended  .and 
unaided  by  any  of  the  so-called  sterner 
sex.  Sometimes  our  trips  are  but  a  few 
hundred  miles,  sometimes  they  cover  a 
mileage  up  in  the  thousands,  but  always 
they  are  camping  trips.  When  we  first 
undertook  these  journeys,  five  years  ago, 
it  was  a  matter  of  comment  and  wonder 
all  along  the  way,  that  we  dared  and 
succeeded  with  no  man  in  the  party.  But 
last  Summer  the  strictly  feminine  nature 
of  our  party  was  a  matter  of  course,  ap¬ 
parently.  for  we  surely  encountered  many 
cars  “manned,”  so  to  speak,  only  by 
women. 
Our  pilgrimages  always  start  from  a 
point  in  Northern  Michigan  and  end 
sometimes  in  the  diagonal  corner  of  the 
same  State,  sometimes  in  Central  Illinois, 
and  sometimes  in  Southern  New  Hamp¬ 
shire.  Our  equipment  is  usually  the 
same,  except  for  a  change  in  the  car. 
As  our  plan  is  to  be  independent  of  time 
and  place — that  is,  that  we  may  spend 
the  night  or  eat  a  meal  where  we  chance 
to  choose  to  stop,  or  where  night  over¬ 
takes  us  without  having  to  drive  on  and 
on  in  search  of  a  suitable  hotel,  we  carry 
our  bed  and  board  with  us  in  as  compact 
a  style  as  possible.  On  the  left  running 
board  is  the  tent,  which  is  to  be  attached 
to  the  car  when  set  up.  The  eight-year- 
old  girl  and  Auntie  can  do  this  attaching 
and  setting  up  in  10  mimutes ;  also  the 
three  folding  army  cots,  tightly  rolled 
and  wrapped  in  the  all-wool  army  blan¬ 
kets,  find  a  place  on  the  running  board, 
along  with  a  box  which  holds  a  can  of 
motor  oil.  There  are  but  three  cots,  be¬ 
cause  one  child  sleeps  on  the  back  seat 
of  the  car.  ,  , ,  , 
So  much  for  the  housing  problem,  and 
for  the  feeding  problem  an  old  suitcase 
lies  flat  in  the  floor  of  the  car  and  in  it 
are  packed  a  folding  “stove,”  the  fuel  of 
which  is  solidified  alcohol,  four  white 
enameled  plates,  plated  knives,  forks  and 
spoons,  four  white  enameled  handless 
cups,  which  nest  easily,  a  roll  of  cheap 
paper  napkins,  a  package  of  wooden  pic¬ 
nic  plates  for  use  with  food  that  is  not 
messy — as  rolls,  sandwiches,  and  such, 
or  to  be  used  and  burned  when  water  for 
dishwashing  is  not  handy. 
The  bill  of  fare  for  a  "arty  containing 
no  men  is  doubtless  easier  and  simpler 
than  for  one  when  more  hearty  appetites 
must  be  considered.  We  always  depend 
for  the  main  part  of  our  food  upon  pur¬ 
chases  made  along  the  way,  but  we  al- 
wavs  start  out  with  a  few  things  which 
will  keep  until  eaten.  First,  a  pint  jar 
of  chocolate  syrup  is  indispensable,  for 
a  tablespoon  of  it  in  a  cup  makes  a  satis¬ 
fying  hot  drink  when  hot  water  is  poured 
on  it.  and  a  little  cream  or  condensed 
milk  added.  Being  thoroughly  cooked,  we 
must  not  wait  for  the  water  to  boil  before 
adding,  so  is  ready  in  a  jiffy,  and  with 
fruit,  bread  or  rolls  and  eggs  makes  an 
easy  and  satisfactory  breakfast. 
Next,  a  jar  of  dressing  is  another  in¬ 
variable  accompaniment  of  our  trips. 
Many  a  lunch  is  made  of  lettuce  and  to¬ 
matoes,  with  salad  dressing,  some  form 
of  bread  and  potato  chips  followed  by  a 
“dessert”  of  cookies  and  berries  growing 
near  our  stopping  place,  or  other  fruit, 
We  are  all  very  fond  of  olive  oil,  so  our 
salad  dressing  ’is  well  filled  with  it,  and 
hence  furnishes  much  nourishment. 
We  omitted  to  mention  that  among  our 
cooking  utensils  is  a  covered  tin  dish 
with  folding  wire  handle  for  heating 
water  or  soup,  boiling  eggs,  and  also  a 
square  cake  tin  for  use  as  a  frying  pan. 
We  use  a  square  one,  because  it  fits  over 
our  stove,  and  a  baking  tin  instead  of  a 
spider  because  the  lack  of  a  handle  makes 
it  easier  to  pack.  In  this  we  can  cook 
ham,  eggs,  potatoes,  sausage,  or  any 
other  quickly  prepared  dish  if  we  wish 
a  'hearty  meal,  but  on  our  more  recent 
trips  we  have  decided  that  it  is  economy 
of  time  and  nervous  energy,  as  well  as 
packing  space,  to  stop  at  a  restaurant 
or  cafeteria  for  one  square  meal  each  day. 
In  our  commissary  department  we  usu¬ 
ally  take  with  us  a  can  or  two  of  jam, 
also  of  our  home-canned  beef  or  chicken, 
canned  pork  and  beans,  and  soup.  Two 
thermos  bottles  fiWed  with  water  always 
find  a  place  in  a  car  in  which  children 
travel,  for  they  are  always  thirsty,  and 
it  shortens  the  day’s  .mileage  to  stop  every 
time  they  want  a  drink ;  futhermore.  it 
is  not  always  easy  to  find  a  drinking 
place  each  time. 
Being  farmers  ourselves,  we  usually  try 
to  patronize  the  roadside  stalls  instead 
of  going  to  stores,  and  we  could  many  a 
tale  unfold  of  the  joys  and  sorrows  of 
such  a  policy — but  that  is  another  story. 
Soon  after  six  o’clock  each  afternoon 
we  begin  to  watch  for  a  good  place  to 
spend  the  night.  Sometimes  we  spy  it 
almost  immediately,  and  on  other  days 
we  drive  on  for  an  hour  or  more  before 
reaching  a  place  that  has  the  few  essen¬ 
tial  requirements.  Our  usual  plan  is 
seek  a  farmhouse,  the  grounds  of  which 
have  a  substantial  fence  in  a  place  ac¬ 
cessible  by  car.  so  that  we  may  fasten 
the  tent  ropes  to  the  car  rather  than  try 
to  drive  pegs.  We  choose  farm  buildings 
rather  than  a  spot  in  the  woods  because 
of  our  unprotected  state,  and  also  that 
we  may  have  a  place  from  which  to  ob¬ 
tain  a  supply  of  fresh  milk  for  our  sup¬ 
per  and  breakfast.  Before  asking  per¬ 
mission  to  camp  in  the  yard,  we  always 
explain  ourselves,  and  in  asking  promise 
to  leave  no  rubbish,  set  no  fires,  and  in 
every  way  try  to  remember  just  what  we 
wouid  expect  and  require  of  people  asking 
the  same  courtesy  of  us  at  our  home. 
We  have  never  yet  been  refused,  and 
never  but  once  treated  with  any  sus¬ 
picion.  This  was  on  a  Sunday  afternoon 
in  Western  Massachusetts.  The  man  of 
the  house  came  out,  walked  around  our 
car,  peered  inside  at  the  luggage,  and 
finally  asked  us  how  he  was  to  know  that 
those  rolls  of  “stuff”  were  not  “moon¬ 
shine.”  However,  when  we  assured  him 
shall  favor,  the  one  drawback  being  that 
sometimes  they  are  so  far  apart  that  one 
must  stop  too  early  or  drive  too  late  in 
order  to  reach  -one. 
Driving  or  riding  all  day  long  is  tire¬ 
some  at  best,  but  is  especially  so  with 
children  along,  and  it  is  hard  for  the 
children,  too.  Our  own  little  girls  are 
easier  to  keep  amused  than  many,  for  they 
find  much  in  nature  and  the  beauties  of 
scenery  to  occupy  them  ;  but  in  the  flat 
monotony  of  much  of  the  middle  country 
their  enthusiasm  wanes.  For  these  times 
we  keep  in  reserve  a  number  of  guessing 
games  which  can  be  played  as  we  speed 
along.  One  little  contest  which  we  in¬ 
vented  proves  unfailingly  to  occupy  us 
for  hours.  It  is  simple,  but  absorbing 
for  the  youngsters,  but  in  time  becomes 
maddening  to  the  elders.  Mother  or 
Auntie  must  say,  for  example,  “The  first 
one  who  spies  a  sheep  must  say  ‘Baa- 
baa  !’  ”  of  “The  first  one  who  sees  a  bee¬ 
hive  say,  ‘Buzz-buzz,’  ”  or  “The  first  one 
who  sees  a  daisy  say,  ‘Sniff-sniff.’  ” 
Then  an  intent  watching  on  all  sides 
follows  till  the  designated  object  is  seen. 
It  is  nothing  short  of  cruelty  to  expect 
growing  children  to  sit  quietly  all  day 
long.  They  must,  wriggle  more  or  less ; 
they  must  stop  and  get  out  at  intervals 
to  stretch  their  legs  and  obey  the  calls  of 
nature,  and  when  the  stop  for  the  night 
Inspecting  the  Poultry 
that  we  had  no  wish  to  stay  if  we  caused 
him  any  discomfort  or  anxiety,  he  became 
quite  cordial  and  bade  us  feel  at  home 
on  his  back  lawn.  As  it  was  then  nearly 
dark  and  we  did  not  know  what  lay  be¬ 
yond,  we  simply  unstrapped  our  cots, 
wrapped  our  blankets  about  us  and  slept 
under  the  stars,  and  were  gnawed  by 
enormous  mosquitoes  till  we  rose  and 
started  on  with  the  dawn.  At  other 
times  we  have  driven  into  an  open  barn 
floor,  set  our  cots  beside  the  car  and  spent 
the  night.  In.  such  cases  we  always  go 
outside  to  cook  ;  that  is,  if  we  wish  a 
fire  to  heat  food  or  water  we  never  do 
it  inside  a  barn. 
One  afternoon,  much  earlier  than  we 
ever  think  of  stopping  for  the  night,  a 
thunderstorm  drove  us  to  shelter  in  the 
open  horse  shed  behind  a  country  church. 
As  the  rain  did  not  stop,  we  stayed  there 
all  night,  and  found  it  on  the  whole  one 
of  the  most  satisfactory  stopping  places, 
and  after  that  made  use  of  such  shelter 
whenever  we  found  them  at  a  time  when 
we  wished  to  stop.  The  only  drawback 
to  this  is  that  scores  of  other  motorists  are 
of  the  same  mind,  and  a  few  of  them  do 
not  consider  the  other  fellow,  for  we  occa¬ 
sionally  found  these  horse  sheds  so  un¬ 
sanitary  and  with  such  unendurable  odor 
from  the  carelessness  of  former  occupants 
that  we  were  forced  to  look  elsewhere  for 
a  night’s  lodging.  We  always  tried  to 
find  someone  from  whom  to  get  permission 
to  enter  the  church  property,  but  invari¬ 
ably  the  reply  was.  in  Canada  as  well  as 
in  the  United  States.  “No  permission  is 
necessary,  for  there  is  scarcely  a  night 
when  there  are  not  one  or  more  parties^ 
stopping  there.”'  We  feel  that  hereafter 
we  shall  hesitate  long  before  asking  at 
private  houses  on  the  much-frequented 
highways  to  be  allowed  to  make  camp. 
Our  experience  with  public  camp  sites 
has  been  limited,  but  by  now  they  are 
becoming  so  well  established  and  so  much 
an  accepted  part  of  each  community’s 
provision  for  the  legion  of  tourists,  that 
henceforth  they  will  be  the  places  we 
grown  or  a  little  child,  he  would  run  or 
fly  away.  The  last  two  years  he  would 
only  go  a  few  feet  and  stop,  but  as  soon 
as  they  left  he  was  at  me  again.  The 
Spring  of  1921  he  was  worse  than  ever ; 
when  I  went  out  to  make  garden  he  would 
peck  at  my  hands,  and  it  hurt.  I  caught 
him,  tied  a  tow  string  to  his  leg,  after 
wrapping  a  piece  of  paper  around  it. 
then  tied  the  other  end  to  a  post.  When 
through  working  I  went  to  loose  him,  and 
he  flew  away  with  the  string.  Three 
days  after  I  heard  he  was  eating  with 
the  hens.  I  tried  to  catch  him,  but  he 
would  not  let  me  near  him.  A  few  hours 
later  I  caught  him  and  cut  the  string. 
As  soon  as  I  set  him  down  he  flew  aivay. 
Three  days  later,  when  working  in  the 
flower  garden,  he  lit  beside  me  and  tried 
to  peck  my  hands.  I  put  a  longer  string 
on  him  and  tied  him  to  the  mail  box  post. 
He  saw  a  horse  coming,  and  flew  away 
with  a  long  piece  of  string.  Later  I  saw 
him  with  string  wound  around  his  legs, 
both  times,  until  length  was  only  about 
one-fourth  of  a  yard  long.  I  caught  him. 
and  when  he  saw  the  man  of  the  house 
coming  toward  us  to  cut  the  string,  he 
tried  hard  to  get  away,  and  I  had  to  put 
his  head  under  my  arm  so  he  couldn’t  see 
him.  Cherry,  the  name  I  gave  him,  was 
always  afraid  of  him,  although  he  was 
the  one  that  fed  him  and  was  always  good 
to  him. 
Same  Spring,  when  cleaning  kitchen, 
with  door  open,  Cherry  came  in,  jumped  • 
up  at  me,  pecked  my  shoes,  caught  the 
brush  of  broom  in  his  bill,  shook  it  as 
though  he  would  tear  broom  to  pieces, 
then  walked  into  dining-room.  Soon  an 
auto  came  into  yard  ;  driver  said  he  never 
saw  a  pheasant  close,  and  would  like  to 
see  him.  I  called  him,  but  no  bird.  Auto 
was  hardly  out  of  sight  before  he  was  in 
the  house  again. 
One  Sabbath  afternoon  last  September 
a  side  hill.  He  lit  in  front  of  me,  and 
before  I  hardly  knew  he  was  there  he 
struck  me  on  the  upper  lip  with  his  bil1 
I  took  a  weed  and  had  to  whip  him  hard 
with  it  before  he  would  leave.  He  would 
visit  the  neighbors  for  half  a  mile  on 
each  side  of  us.  They  would  feed  him. 
but  he  would  come  back  to  us.  I  would 
talk  to  him  and  he  would  go  with  me, 
but  as  soon  as  he  heard  a  strange  voice  he 
would  stop  or  run  away.  For  several 
weeks  he  stayed  nights  under  my  bed¬ 
room  window,  and  if  he  had  continued  to 
spend  his  nights  there  he  might  be  alive 
now. 
One  Sabbath  afternon  last  September 
I  saw  a  neighbor  bringing  him  home ; 
wondered  how  he  caught  him,  as  I  had 
•never  heard  of  bis  letting  anyone  but 
me  catch  him.  When  I  received  him  the 
feathers  were  all  off  his  back,  tail  gone, 
right  eye  injured,  bad  tear  under  his 
right  wing.  It  looked  like  the  work  of 
an  owl.  We  did  what  we  could  for 
Cherry,  but  _  in  two  days  he  was  dead. 
The  past  Winter  I  could  almost  imagine 
if  I  looked  out  of  the  window  where  I 
was  sitting  I  would  see  Cherry  walking 
by  with  his  head  up  as  high  as  he  could 
stretch  his  neck,  looking  in  at  me.  I  al¬ 
ways  liked  birds  and  animals ;  never 
cared  to  see  them  in  cages,  or  dogs  or 
cats  on  people’s  laps,  or  led  by  string. 
I  never  tried  to  make  a  pet  of  them,  and 
have  often  wondered  why  Cherry  liked 
me.  m.  D. 
Lisbon,  N.  Y. 
is  made  they  need  some  active  exercise. 
We  usually  have  a  ball  along  for  a  bit 
of  play  before  we  cuddle  into  our  blankets 
before  the  sunlight  dies,  and  the  children 
sleep  their  12  hours  through  no  matter 
how  many  wakeful  moments  come  to  the 
parents  from  discouraging  a  mouse  or 
squirrel  from  investigating  the  food  sup¬ 
ply  too  closely,  or  from  chasing  away 
a  flock  of  sheep  who  nose  intimately 
about.  g.  T.  s. 
(To  Be  Continued) 
Cherry,  the  Pet  Pheasant 
The  Winter  of  1918-19  a  male  golden 
pheasant  came  into  our  neighborhood,  and 
as  we  kept  neither  dog,  cat,  nor  rooster, 
by  warm  weather  he  stayed  mostly  at  our 
home  and  ate  with  the  hens.  My  first 
acquaintance  with  him  was  one  Monday, 
when  hanging  the  wash  on  the  line.  I 
sawr  him  in  the  garden  ;  for  fear  he  would 
destroy  something,  I  talked  to  him  to 
scare  him  out;  the  more  I  talked,  the 
nearer  he  came  to  me ;  when  I  swung  a 
sheet  at  him  he  flew  away.  Later,  when 
he  would  hear  me  driving  the  hens  out 
of  the  yard,  he  would  fly  or  run  to  me. 
As  long  as  I  shooed  the  bens  he  would 
run  around  me  like  a  flash,  he  was  so 
quick. 
In  raspberry  time,  when  I  would  be 
out  picking  berries,  he  would  come  to  me, 
make  a  noise,  pheasant  talk,  and  I  wouid 
talk  to  him.  It  was  not  long  before  he 
would  give  a  flying  jump  at  me,  and  peck 
at  my  shoes.  One  day  I  caught  him  and 
smoothed  his  feathers;  then  he  was  worse 
than  ever  for  a  while,  as  he  would  tease 
me  until  I  caught  and  rubbed  his  feathers. 
Then  he  would  leave  me  alone  until  the 
next  day.  If  I  went  to  a  neighbor’s  he 
would  run  along  about  three  feet  from 
my  side  or  some  distance  in  front  of  me, 
until  he  saw  a  dog,  then  he  would  go  back 
a  way,  and  wait  until  I  returned  home, 
then  go  with  me.  However  much  he  was 
bothering  me,  and  saw  anyone  coming 
toward  me,  no  difference  if  they  were 
What  About  “Red  Leghorns”? 
A  number  of  breeders  have  been  asking 
us  about  a  so-called  breed  or  strain  of 
“Red”  Leghorns,  said  to  be  located  in 
Ohio.  As  we  understand,  the  claim  is 
made  that  this  breed  or  family  was  pro¬ 
duced  by  crossing  the  Rhode  Island  Red 
and  the  White  Leghorn,  selecting  a  few 
of  the  better  marked  chicks  and  breeding 
from  them.  The  claim  is  that  these  birds 
are  larger  than  a  Leghorn,  of  a  dark  red 
color,  and  that  they  lay  a  tinted  egg. 
.Tust  why  they  should  be  called  “Red” 
Leghorns  is  too  much  for  us,  It  is  not 
likely  that  these  birds  are  in  any  way 
superior  in  their  line  to  either  a  Leghorn 
or  a  Red.  Cross-bred  birds  of  this  kind 
may  make  good  individually,  but,  of 
course,  they  are  of  little  value  for  breed¬ 
ing  purposes.  The  new  strain  or  breed 
known  as  Oregons  was  originally  pro¬ 
duced  by  crossing  the  Leghorn  and  the 
Barred  Plymouth  Rock,  and  then  breed¬ 
ing  through  a  number  of  generations 
back  to  a  strong  White  Leghorn.  The 
result  is  a  bird  larger  than  the  average 
Leghorn,  and  an  excellent  1  ayer.  It 
would  require  a  good  many  generations 
and  a  most  careful  selecting  to  produce  a 
strain  or  family  that  would  be  in  any 
way  permanent  or  worth  while.  These 
Red  Leghorns,  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
have  thus  far  proved  merely  a  novelty. 
We  are  quite  unable  to  understand  the 
noint  of  view  which  will  drive  a  man 
thousands  of  miles  to  pay  great  prices 
for  a  novelty,  when  right  over  across  the 
road  he  may  have  a  neighbor  who  has 
produced  a  splendid  family  of  some  reg¬ 
ular  breed. 
.T.  R.  Wilkie,  head  of  the  Emporia 
Welfare  Association,  recently  received  a 
supply  of  Government  garden  seeds  from 
Congressman  Homer  Iloch.  He  has  been 
giving  them  to  home  gardeners  for  several 
days.  This  afternoon  a  small  boy  entered 
the  welfare  office  and  asked  for  some  pea 
seed.  It  was  not  his  first  visit.  “Yon 
must  be  planting  a  lot  of  peas  this  year.” 
said  Mr.  Wilkie.  “Don’t  plant  ’em,”  said 
the  boy ;  ma  makes  soup  out  of  ’em.” — 
Topeka  Capital. 
