974 
•P*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
July  21,  192# 
Hope  Farm  Notes 
“Two  strikes,  three  balls ! 
A  big  giant  in  a  brown  uniform  stood 
at  the  home  plate  waving  his  bat  like 
some  knight  of  old  in  response  to  a  chal¬ 
lenge.  Close  behind  him  crouched  a  boy 
about  half  his  size — the  catcher’s  mask 
on  face  and  big  glove  held  out  for  the 
ball.  Down  in  the  pitcher’s  box,  a  boy 
in  a  gray  uniform  was  “winding  up”  to 
deliver  the  fateful  ball.  That  ball  might 
well  be  called  possibilities  bound  in 
leather.  It  was  the  last  of  the  sixth  in¬ 
ning — two  out,  two  on  bases,  the  score 
two  to  two  and  the  “Babe  Ruth”  of  the 
opposing  team  up  wTith  two  strikes  and 
three  balls.  That  is  a  situation  calcu¬ 
lated  to  thrill  an  amateur  ball  “fan,  and 
the  Hope  Farm  man  on  the  hill  just 
above  first  base  felt  that  great  things  de¬ 
pended  on  the  course  of  that  combination 
of  rubber,  yarn  and  horse  hide.  For  the 
left  hander  or  “port  sider”  waving^  his 
arms  preparatory  to  throwing  an  out 
drop”  was  Cherry-top,  the  “diamond 
representative  of  Hope  Farm. 
I  understand  that  the  Indians  had  a 
game  which  they  played  with  ball  and 
bat.  We  seem  to  have  adapted  our  mod¬ 
ern  game  from  them,  just  as  we  have 
adopted  our  modern  steel  hoe  from  their 
clam  shell  and  stick.  Very  likely  some 
500  years  ago,  right  in  this  valley  some 
big  Indian  stood  with  his  club  waiting 
for  another  to  throw  the  ball.  In  those 
days  I  doubt  if  it  was  “three  strikes  and 
out,”  or  if  there  was  any  umpire.  As  a 
fourth  strike  I  think  they  used  toma¬ 
hawk  or  knife  to  settle  a  close  decision. 
***** 
We  were  a  long  way  from  home — far 
up  in  Rockland  Co.,  N.  Y.  When  I  played 
baseball  our  foray  against  the  enemy 
were  limited  to  an  excursion  on  shank  s 
mare,”  a  ride  in  a  hay  Tig  or  some  short 
journey  on  the  cars.  Now  our  boys  step 
into  a  car  and  are  quickly  blown  for 
miles  on  the  wings  of  gasoline.  So  we 
came  winding  and  turning  along  country 
roads,  slowed  up  as  we  passed  through 
little  villages,  and  darting  along  past 
farms  and  vacant  places  until  we  twisted 
and  dodged  into  this  little  valley.  Ages 
ago  the  great  ice  sheets  came  plowing 
down  on  their  way  to  the  ocean.  One  of 
them  evidently  reached  out  a  little  finger 
and  scratched  the  earth  at  this  place.  It 
did  not  leave  level  ground  enough  for 
a  full  ball  field,  for  the  right  fielder  has 
to  stand  on  a  hill  which  rises  abruptly 
just  back  of  first  base.  It’s  as  fair  for 
one  as  for  the  other,  but  our  boys  were 
at  a  disadvantage  at  first,  not  knowing 
how  to  play  this  hill  or  the  little  brook 
which  runs  through  the  outfield.  All 
around  the  ball  field  runs  a  tangle  of 
brush  and  briars  and  small  trees.  When 
the  ball  gets  into  this  entanglement  the 
game  of  hide  and  seek  is  added  to  that 
of  baseball.  But  it  is  a  beautiful  spot. 
To  the  west  rises  a  high,  rocky  hill.  Dark 
shadows  form  to  the  east  of  it  in  the 
early  afternoon.  If  you  climb  the  little 
hill  which  rises  from  the  ball  field  you 
can  look  off  east  and  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  Hudson,  the  light  blue  of  its  water 
contrasting  with  the  darker  shade  of  the 
hills  on  the  eastern  side.  I  found  a 
couple  of  discarded  oil  tins.  They  made 
a  good  seat  in  the  shade  of  a  big  bush, 
with  my  coat  for  a  cushion.  If  this  game 
were  not  so  interesting  I  would  like  to 
sit  here  with  one  of  Washington  Irving’s 
books  and  go  back  to  Sleepy  Hollow  with 
the  Dutchmen  who  once  peopled  this  sec¬ 
tion.  But  who  can  tarry  with  sleepy 
Dutchmen  when  the  score  is  tied  and  the 
next  ball  is  to  settle  it?  I  tell  Cherry- 
top  that  he  expends  too  much  energy  in 
“winding  up,”  but  every  man  to  his 
own  job.  I  am  quite  well  aware  that  a 
man  of  my  years  sitting  in  the  shade  of 
a  bush  is  less  qualified  to  pitch  a  decid¬ 
ing  ball  than  a  boy  out  in  the  hot  sun¬ 
shine.  The  boy  has  been  studying 
mechanics  and  knows  how  to  use  his  long 
arm  as  a  lever.  Finally  the  ball  started 
on  its  way  like  a  flash  of  light.  The 
giant  at  the  plate  clutched  his  big  bat 
and  made  a  ferocious  swing  at  the  ball. 
Could  he  have  hit  the  “pellet”  squarely 
it  would  have  meant  a  home  run,  but  just 
in  front  of  the  base  the  ball  suddenly 
seemed  to  drop  about  six  inches  and  the 
big  bat  swished  at  the  air  just  where  the 
ball  ought  to  have  been.  There  was  a 
thud  against  the  catcher’s  glove  and  the 
fielders  came  running  in. 
Three  strikes — out! 
***** 
But  what  are  we  doing  here — away 
from  home,  playing  and  loafing  in  this 
way?  This  is  an  ideal  day  for  killing 
weeds,  and  what  right  has  a  farmer  to 
stop  working?  He  has  just  as  much 
right  as  anyone  to  en'oy  life  in  his  own 
way.  but  habit  and  social  conditions  have 
made  him  feel  that  he  has  no  business  to 
do  anything  but  work.  I  think  we  must 
plan  to  take  what  others  take — it’s  a 
form  of  do  it  yourself.  This  morning 
I  was  hoeing  those  strawberries  when  the 
boys  came  out  with  an  important  propo¬ 
sition. 
“I  have  been  asked  to  pitch  for  the 
local  nine  in  a  game  this  afternoon.  If 
we  finish  up  this  job  can  we  go  and  why 
don’t  you  come  along  with  us  and  see 
the  game?” 
Standing  there,  hoe  in  hand,  there 
came  to  me  the  memory  of  a  time  when, 
as  a  young  fellow  I  worked  on  a  farm 
where  there  were  three  good-sized  boys. 
There  was  to  be  a  ball  game  in  town, 
and  we  wanted  to  go.  We  worked  like 
tigers  from  sun-up  and  at  a  little  before 
three  in  the  afternoon  we  had  the  last 
load  of  hay  in  the  barn  and  everything 
cleaned  up  right.  Then  one  of  the  boys 
said  to  his  father : 
“Pa,  we’ve  got  the  wrork  all  done. 
Can’t  we  knock  off  and  see  the  ball 
game?” 
But  Pa  didn’t  believe  in  playing. 
“Ball  game?  No  playing  on  this  farm  ! 
Get  out  your  scythes  and  go  to  cutting 
them  weeds  in  the  lane!” 
We  went,  but  with  rebellious  hearts. 
Later,  that  man  was  sent  to  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  as  a  “fine  type  of  our  business  farm¬ 
ers,”  but  I  wouldn’t  vote  for  him,  and 
his  boys  left  him  alone  on  the  farm.  My 
memory  is  good  about  such  things,  and 
I  made  a  bargain  with  the  boys.  The  re¬ 
sult  was  that  by  noon  we  had  all  but  one 
patch  of  strawberries  cleaned  up,  and  the 
boys  set  out  about  1,000  plants.  I  did 
not  suppose  they  could  move  so  rapidly. 
We  had  the  corn  all  cultivated  and  the 
old  strawberry  bed  is  ready  for  plowing 
so  we  may  plant  cabbage.  Next  week 
the  oats  will  be  cut  for  hay,  and  the  po¬ 
tatoes  worked  once  more.  That  young 
vineyard  needs  weeding,  but  a  few  drop 
curves  on  these  big  weeds  will  strike  them 
out.  So  after  dinner  Cherrytop,  the 
Japanese  boy  and  I  got  into  the  car, 
picked  up  three  other  players— and  here 
we  are.  Why  shouldn’t  we  be  free  to  en¬ 
joy  the  game?  I  confess  that  I  brought 
along  a  book  to  read  in  case  the  game 
proved  dull,  but  thus  far  it  has  provided 
a  series  of  thrills.  The  book  I  brought 
is  Chauncey  M.  Depew’s  “My  Memories 
of  Eighty  Years.”  Mr.  Depew  is  now  in 
his  ninetieth  year.  Say  what  you  like 
about  him-  or  what  he  has  done,  it  must 
be  a  wonderful  thing  to  look  back 
through  nearly  35,000  days  and  find  only 
happy  memories  to  record !  Not  many  of 
us,  I  fear,  could  do  that.  Among  other 
things  Mr.  Depew  says  that  in  1S76  he 
had  a  chance  to  buy  a  one-sixth  interest 
in  all  the  Bell  telephone  had  to  offer  for 
$10,000.  He  failed  to  do  it  only  be¬ 
cause  the  best  electric  experts  of  the 
day  advised  him  that  the  telephone  never 
could  be  anything  but  a  mere  toy.  Had 
Depew  disregarded  the  experts  and  in¬ 
vested  his  $10,000  the  income  from  it 
would  by  this  time  have  amounted  to  at 
least  one  hundred  millions !  My  own 
investments  have  been  mostly  in  children, 
and  I  am  fairly  well  satisfied. 
:je  5jc  ♦  sje 
And  there  is  another  reason  why  we 
feel  justified  in  celebrating  a  little  to¬ 
day.  I  told  last  week  how  my  daugh¬ 
ter  was  in  New  York  making  a  final  ef¬ 
fort  to  get  little  Rose  once  more.  Well, 
she  failed  at  that  time,  but  suddenly  the 
conditions  changed,  and  I  found  that  by 
acting  quickly  I  could  get  the  two  little 
girls  once  more.  You  may  be  sure  that 
I  put  on  all  the  speed  that  is  in  me,  and 
within  a  few  hours  little  Rose  and  Rita 
were  both  running  about  on  the  Hope 
Farm  lawn.  Mother  knew  nothing  about 
it.  The  whole  thing  come  up  so  sud¬ 
denly.  The  good  lady  sat  out  on  the 
porch  reading  when  we  drove  into  the 
yard  and  I  had  the  little  girls  get  down 
in  the  car  out  of  sight. 
“Here,  Ma,  I’ve  sure  got  something  you 
like.” 
I  think  this  lady  is  rather  suspicious 
of  some  of  my  attempts  at  practical  jokes, 
and  she  did  not  appear  much  interested 
until  she  caught  sight  of  a  little  black 
head  peeking  over  the  side  of  the  car. 
Then  there  was  action. 
“Why  it’s  Rose !”  and  we  had  im¬ 
mediate  evidence  of  the  falsity  of  the 
statement  that  “large  bodies  move  slow¬ 
ly.”  Little  Rose  seems  thin  and  frail  as 
a  flower,  but  within  48  hours  she  was 
dancing  about  in  the  sun — the  fear  gone 
from  her  eyes  and  the  pallid  little  face 
starting  to  show  a  faint  tinge  of  pink. 
She  has  started  in  to  eat  her  weight  of 
milk  and  eggs,  and  fruit  and  vegetables 
each  week.  I  wish  that  I  could  be  free 
to  tell  you  all  the  story  of  this  case.  It 
would  make  a  romance  touching  most  of 
the  high  spots  and  the  low  spots  of  what 
we  call  humanity.  We  cannot  consider 
that  just  now  ;  it  is  enough  that  the  lit¬ 
tle  girls  are  with  us  once  more — for.  a 
time  at  least.  Many  of  you  can  realize 
what  it  means  to  have  these  little  loving 
girls  in  the  family.  Surely  it  is  an  oc¬ 
casion  worthy  of  a  full  celebration.  At 
least  it  seems  so  to  me — sitting  on  my  oil 
can  in  the  shade  of  this  bush,  watching 
the  boy  as  he  strikes  out  these  big  men 
one  after  one.  It  pays  to  hang  right  on 
to  an  idea  or  a  purpose,  and  never  think 
of  giving  it  up.  But  pride  sometimes 
gets  a  hard  knock  as  well  as  a  fall.  The 
boy  thought  he  would  try  an  out  curve 
on  one  of  the  smaller  men.  This  short, 
chunky  fellow  caught  that  ball  on  the 
end  of  his  bat  and  sent  it  far  down  to 
center  field.  There  it  hit  a  stone,  bound¬ 
ed  over  the  fielder’s  head  and  lost  itself 
among  the  weeds  beside  the  brook!  While 
the  fielders  were  hunting  for  it  the  batter 
ran-  home.  Oh,  well,  you  must  take  all 
sorts  of  things  on  the  ball  field  as  well  as 
on  the  larger  field  of  life.  We  drove 
home  through  the  cooling  evening,  well 
satisfied  with  our  outing.  And  the  game? 
Why,  we  did  not  intend  to  refer  to  that 
again;  those  big  men  beat  us  4  to  2.  I 
suppose  we  could  manufacture  half  a 
dozen  alibis,  but  what’s  the  use — they 
beat  us,  and  who  cares,  as  little  Rose,  in 
her  new  brown  overalls,  comes  dancing 
out  in  the  old  way  to  meet  us?  A  man 
might  get  a  knockdown  that  would  make 
him  see  stars,  and  yet  jump  right  up 
again  at  such  a  welcome.  H.  w.  c. 
Legal  Questions 
Fire  Damage  from  Railroad 
One  day  near  the  last  of  March  a 
spark  from  an  engine  on  the  B.  &  A.  rail¬ 
road  landed  about  300  ft.  in  lot  of  A, 
causing  a  fire,  which  spread  to  land  of  B 
and  O,  burning  about  three  or  four  acres 
for  B  and  five  or  six  on  C  of  grass  land. 
The  claim  agent  of  B.  &  A.  railroad 
claims  that  according  to  the  New  York 
State  law  they  were  not  responsible  for 
any  damage  to  B  and  O,  because  fire 
started  on  A’s  property.  Will  you  let 
me  know  if  you  consider  B  and  C  have 
any  good  claim  against  the  railroad. 
New  York.  j.  f.  b. 
The  claim  agent  is  undoubtedly  correct 
in  his  position,  under  the  theory  that 
the  approximate  cause  of  the  damage  to 
B  and  C  was  the  burning  of  the  lot  of  A. 
N.  T. 
Failure  of  Title 
We  purchased  our  farm  in  the  Fall  of 
1920.  We  placed  a  mortgage  with  the 
former  owner,  with  an  agreement  that 
he  gives  us  a  clear  title  within  a  year. 
In  the  search  there  were  found  a  few 
heirs  of  a  previous  owner  who  had  not 
signed  quitclaim  deeds  to  the  property. 
The  year  is  over  and  the  agreement  is  not 
fulfilled.  The  agreement  is  in  writing. 
Can  the  mortgagee  demand  his  payment 
which  is  due  this  Fall?  Is  the  agreement 
still  valid?  The  year  was  up  in  the  Fall 
of  1921.  Could  the  mortgagee  assign 
the  mortgage  to  someone  else  without  our 
knowledge?  If  he  did,  could  this  have 
any  effect  on  the  original  agreement? 
New  York.  G.  G. 
Failure  of  title  is  a  good  defense  to  the 
foreclosure  of  a  mortgage.  We  assume 
that  you  received  a  warranty  deed.  It 
would  be  better  to  see  the  mortgagee  and 
see  if  some  arrangement  cannot  be  made 
with  him.  N,  T. 
Buying  Real  Estate  from  Administrator 
I  wish  to  purchase  a  chicken  plant  in 
this  State,  and  have  made  an  offer  to  the 
administrator  of  the  estate  to  pay  a  cer¬ 
tain  amount  and  assume  the  debts  of  the 
creditors  against  the  estate  if  they  are 
willing  to  such  an  arrangement.  I  am 
told  bv  the  administrator  that  it  is  my 
duty  to  arrange  with  each  creditor  per¬ 
sonally  before  the  deal  can  be  consum¬ 
mated.  I  want  to  know  if  a  prospertive 
purchaser  must  perform  this  work  of  the 
administrator  in  arranging  the  sale. 
New  York.  G.  E.  M. 
We  do  not  like  the  plan  which  you 
propose  of  buying  the  property  in  ques¬ 
tion.  An  administrator  has  no  power  to 
sell  real  property  unless  it  is  sold  under 
the  direction  of  the  court.  It  would  be 
better  for  the  administrator  to  sell  the 
property  to  you  for  the  payment  of  debts, 
under  direction  of  the  surrogate,  and  then 
you  can  pay  the  money  all  to  the  admin¬ 
istrator,  whose  duty  it  is  to  pay  the  cred¬ 
itors.  N.  T. 
Agreement  for  Care  of  Aged  Person 
Would  the  following  agreement  be  legal 
if  made  out  by  a  squire?  A’s  wife  has 
died.  He  is  82  years  old.  There  are 
wife’s  relatives,  a  brother’s  children  and 
sister  and  children  living.  A  offers  B 
his  farm  of  26  acres  for  A’s  board  and 
care  as  long  as  he  lives,  also  B  pays 
funeral  expenses.  After  A’s  death  the 
farm  is  to  belong  to  B.  A  keeps  the  deed 
in  his  name.  Is  B  protected  by  this 
agreement,  and  can  A’s  wife’s  relations 
claim  share  of  farm?  B  is  no  relation 
whatever.  A  has  no  children  living,  one 
small  child  having  died  long  ago.  In 
case  B  should  die  before  A,  the  farm  is 
to  belong  to  A  the  same  as  before.  Would 
it  not  be  fairer  for  B’s  wife  to  take  B’s 
part  of  the  agreement,  as  there  are  four 
children  of  B’s?  h.  a.  W. 
Pennsylvania. 
The  legality  of  the  agreement  would 
depend  on  the  “squire’s”  ability  to  draw 
an  agreement  and  the  title  of  A  at  the 
time  of  making  the  agreement.  We  do 
not  favor  instruments  of  this  kind,  and 
would  suggest  that  A  make  a  will  dispos¬ 
ing  of  the  property  as  he  cares  to.  As 
a  will  is  revokable  at  any  time,  B  for 
his  protection  should  also  have  a  con¬ 
tract  providing  that  in  case  the  will  is 
changed  before  the  death  of  A  that  B 
shall  be  paid  for  the  value  of  his  services 
to  A  and  for  money  expended  by  him. 
The  amount  which  he  is  to  receive  may 
be  mentioned  in  the  agreement  at  a  sum 
equal  to  the  value  of  the  farm  or  other¬ 
wise.  By  doing  this  the  record  of  title 
is  not  disturbed,  and  B  is  sure  to  receive 
pay  for  his  services.  N.  T. 
Illegal  Votes  at  School  Meeting 
.Since  a  recent  school  meeting,  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  its  legality  has  arisen  from  the 
fact  that  one  or  more  illegal  votes  having 
been  cast.  What  means  should  be  taken 
in  order  to  call  another  school  meeting  if 
this  one  was  void?  c.  F.  G. 
New  York. 
The  first  thing  to  determine  is  whether 
or  not  your  business  was  legally  trans¬ 
acted  and  your  officers  legally  elected.  The 
fact  that  an  illegal  vote  was  cast  would 
not  render  the  whole  proceedings  void  if 
there  were  legal  votes  enough  to  transact 
the  business.  A  person  not  qualified  to 
vote  at  a  school  meeting,  who  shall  vote 
shall  forfeit  $30,  to  be  collected  by  the 
supervisor  for  the  benefit  of  the  common 
schools  in  the  town.  n.  t. 
Inheritance  of  Adopted  Child 
When  did  the  law  providing  for  inher¬ 
itance  by  adopted  children  go  into  effect? 
My  mother  was  an  adopted  daughter  of  a 
man  of  means  in  Otsego  County,  N.  Y., 
but  I  think  she  was  adopted  before  that 
law  went  into  effect.  All  the  legal  proof 
I  have  is  a  tombstone  personally  erected 
m  a  graveyard  in  Otsego  County,  N.  Y., 
by  my  grandfather  by  adoption,  whom  I 
always  recognized  as  such,  and  never 
knew  my  mother  was  an  adopted  child 
until  August  22,  1920.  I  understand  my 
mother  was  about  a  month  or  two  old 
when  adopted ;  never  have  been  able  to 
trace  out  her  parents.  To  clear  the  an¬ 
cestral  horizon  would  be  quite  a  satisfac¬ 
tion  to  me,  also  to  get  something  that  was 
my  mother’s.  Mother  died  when  I  was 
two  years  of  age.  w.  j.  p. 
Rhode  Island. 
No  right  of  inheritance  was  conveyed 
by  the  original  adoption  act  of  1873.  Sub¬ 
sequently,  however,  Chapter  703  of  the 
laws  of  1S'87  amended  the  original  enact¬ 
ment  so  as  to  confer  the  right  of  inher¬ 
itance  upon  adopted  children.  Section 
110  of  the  present  domestic  relation  law 
provides  that  nothing  in  this  article  in  re¬ 
gard  to  an  adopted  adult  or  child  inherit¬ 
ing  from  the  foster  parent  applies  to  any 
will,  devise  or  trust  made  or  created  be¬ 
fore  June  25,  1873.  n.  t. 
Policeman:  “When  you  brought  the 
would-be  suicide  from  the  water,  what 
did  he  do?”  Rescuer:  "As  soon  as  I 
had  turned  my  back  he  hung  himself 
from  a  tree.”  “But  why  didn’t  you  cut 
him  down?”  “I  thought  he  had  hung 
himself  up  to  dry.”  —  Kasper  (Stock¬ 
holm). 
The  way  to  raise  a  calf  is  to  raise  it — that  means  make  a  pet  of  it,  and  treat  it 
as  kindly  as  you  do  the  baby 
