1470 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  1,  1923 
A  Kodak  for  Christmas 
Hardly  is  it  out  of  the  package  when 
it’s  out  of  doors  in  happy  hands,  “clicking” 
the  holiday  story. 
Kodak  is  a  gift  that  everyone  wants. 
Autographic  Kodaks  $ 6 .50  UP 
Eastman  Kodak  Company, Rochester,  N.Y. 
Organized  Co-operation 
A  NEW  BOOK 
Things  To  Think  About 
By  JOHN  J 
This  book  is  written  in  three 
parts. 
PART  ONE.— The  Develop¬ 
ment  of  the  Agricultural  Indus¬ 
try.  In  five  chapters. 
PART  TWO.  —  Fundamental 
Principles  and  Adaptable  Forms 
of  Co-operative  Organization.  In 
ten  chapters. 
PART  THREE.  —  Application 
of  Co-operation  to  Efficient  and 
Economic  Distribution  of  Farm 
Products.  In  seven  chapters. 
This  is  a  new  treatment  of  the 
co-operative  subject.  Heretofore 
writers  of  books  have  contented 
. DILLON 
themselves  with  accounts  of  co¬ 
operative  work  where  established. 
It  has  been  mostly  propaganda 
and  exhortation.  This  was  all 
good  in  its  time.  But  we  have 
grown  beyond  it.  Farmers  are 
now  committed  to  co-operation. 
Once  shy  of  it,  they  are  at  last  a 
unit  for  it.  What  they  want  now 
is  principles  and  definite  policies 
that  have  pn  ved  successful.  This 
book  is  the  first  real  attempt  to 
supply  this  want.  Other,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  better,  books  will 
follow  on  this  line;  but  for  the 
present  there  is  no  other  book 
seriously  treating  the  subject  of 
organized  co-operation. 
The  Farm  Bulletin  Board 
The  National  Farm  Market  Bureau  is¬ 
sues  a  bulletin  to  prove  that  it  pays  to 
advertise,  and  it  talks  about  putting  up 
a  bulletin  board  in  front  of  the  farm,  just 
as  if  this  was  an  entirely  new  and  orig¬ 
inal  suggestion.  Tiie  R.  N.-Y.  has  been 
talking  about  these  bulletin  boards  for 
about  25  years.  It  is  more  than  20  years 
since  we  printed  pictures  of  such  boards, 
and  particularly  of  the  one  used  in  front 
of  our  own  farm.  We  made  a  black¬ 
board,  such  as  the  children  use  in  their 
schoolroom,  and  the  little  folks  found 
great  amusement  and  satisfaction  in 
chalking  up  from  day  to  day  what  we 
had  to  sell.  They  would  draw  pictures 
on  the  board  in  addition  to  what  they 
wrote,  and  we  found  that  this  childish 
work  was  really  a  better  advertisement 
than  any  elaborate  advertising  that  we 
could  find. 
On  one  occasion  we  had  some  little  pigs 
for  sale.  The  children  drew  a  picture  of 
the  pig  which  looked  like  almost  anything 
that  walks  on  four  feet,  and  they  wrote 
in  large  letters  underneath  it.  “Pigs  for 
Sail.”  They  were  quite  mortified  when 
the  mistake  in  spelling  was  pointed  out  to 
them,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  selling  most 
of  the  litter.  Buyers  were  good-natured, 
and  they  felt  that  a  pig  that  could  “sail” 
in  addition  to  making  pork  was  too  good 
a  bargain  to  pass  by. 
The  Child  Welfare  Law 
My  husband  died  last  December,  and  I 
am  left  with  five  small  children,  ages 
ranging  from  five  years  to  14.  My  hus¬ 
band  was  heavily  in  debt.  The  farm  was 
finally  exchanged  for  city  property,  and  I 
am  engaged  in  the  retail  grocery  business, 
but  find  the  income  not  sufficient  to  sup¬ 
port  the  family  decently  and  keep  all  bills 
paid.  I  also  have  a  half  interest  in  a 
small  farm  (25  acres)  which  is  worked 
on  shares.  I  get  one-fourth  of  what  is 
left  after  interest  and  taxes  and  other  ex¬ 
penses  are  paid.  This  is  indeed  very 
small.  Am  I  entitled  to  a  widow’s  pen¬ 
sion  -or  not?  If  I  am  entitled  to  one, 
what  steps  must  I  take  in  oi’der  to  obtain 
same?  MRS.  M. 
Niagara  Co.,  N.  Y. 
The  law  referred  to  has  not  been  prop¬ 
erly  named.  It  is  really  not  a  pension 
law,  but  is  more  in  the  way  of  a  mother’s 
allowance  law.  The  benefits  are  not  con¬ 
fined  to  widows.  It  represents  an  allow¬ 
ance  given  to  assist  a  worthy  mother  and 
her  children,  who  may  be  for  the  time 
deprived  of  the  income  which  the  husband 
has  previously  provided.  It  is  not  a  pen¬ 
sion,  as  the  word  is  generally  understood, 
but  is  an  allowance  designed  to  compen¬ 
sate  the  woman  for  her  services  in  main¬ 
taining  her  home  and  caring  for  her  chil¬ 
dren,  so  as  to  insure  them  proper  train¬ 
ing.  The  theory  back  of  the  law  is  not  so 
much  the  relief  of  the  woman  or  mother 
as  an  investment  in  future  citizenship, 
which  the  children  represent.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  consider  this  a  pension  law. 
Some  form  of  mothers’  assistance  is  in 
force  in  41  States  of  the  American  Union. 
Some  of  our  people  appear  to  think  that 
under  this  law  every  widow  is  entitled 
to  a  pension.  That  is  not  so,  for  as 
stated,  the  money  is  designed  to  help  the 
children  rather  than  the  mother,  and 
there  are  cases  where  a  married  woman 
has  received  help  on  this  law  during  the 
sickness  of  her  husband,  or  because  of 
separation  from  him ;  in  fact,  the  allow¬ 
ance  will  include  and  help  in  cases  where 
the  men  are  in  State  hospitals  or  have 
been  sentenced  to  State  prison  for  a  term 
of  years.  The  wives  of  such  men  are  held 
to  be  entitled  to  the  allowance,  just  as 
much  as  widows.  It  cannot  be  stated 
too  clearly  that  the  center  of  interest  in 
this  law  is  the  child,  first  of  all,  and  its 
design  is  to  try  to  help  worthy  women 
maintain  their  own  homes,  so  that  their 
children  may  be  brought  up  under  right 
influences. 
The  administration  of  this  law  ,'s 
through  local  boards  of  child  welfare. 
There  is  such  a  board  in  every  county  of 
the  State,  except  the  five  counties  includ¬ 
ed  in  New  York  City,  and  applications 
are  made  to  these  boards.  There  is  no 
limit  to  the  amount  of  the  allowance 
granted.  It  is  measured  by  the  needs  of 
the  family  as  determined  by  an  investiga¬ 
tion  made  by  the  board.  The  maximum 
allowance  permitted  under  the  law  is  the 
amount  per  child  paid  by  the  county  or 
city  in  child  caring  institutes.  These 
local  boards  of  child  welfare  are  under 
the  supervision  of  the  State  Board  of 
Charities,  but  applications  for  relief 
should  be  addressed  to  the  secretary  of 
the  local  Child  Welfare  Board. 
In  the  case  mentioned  by  Mrs.  M.,  her 
application  should  be  made  to  the  secre¬ 
tary  of  this  board  at  Lockport,  N.  Y., 
and  where  application  is  made  in  other 
counties  it  should  be  addressed  to  the 
secretary  of  the  Welfare  Board  at  the 
court  house  in  the  county  town.  It 
would  seem  as  if  your  circumstances  en¬ 
title  you  to  an  allowance,  but  that  would 
be  decided  by  the  Child  Welfare  Board, 
for  they  are  expected  to  investigate  each 
case  separately. 
Knife  Grinding  Business 
We  are  along  in  life  past  60,  my  hus¬ 
band  is  a  first-class  mechanic,  and  at 
present  in  the  blacksmith  business,  which 
is  getting  too  heavy,  and  is  thinking  of 
fixing  an  up-to-date  wagon  with  an  en¬ 
gine  and  emery  belt  and  machinery  to  do 
good  work,  and  grind  knives  and  shears 
of  all  kinds,  and  repair  them,  going 
from  town  to  town.  Do  you  think  that 
he  would  be  able  to  make  good  day 
wages?  He  has  a  knack  for  that  work. 
Chenango  Co.,  N.  Y.  subscriber. 
It  will  depend  on  the  community.  In 
our  part  of  New  Jersey  such  a  business 
would  pay  well.  There  are  hundreds  of 
people  who  would  patronize  such  an  out¬ 
fit  if  the  operator  did  good  work.  It  will 
require  a  good  salesman  to  start  such  a 
business  but  in  most  neighborhoods  it 
would  pay. 
How  the  Other  Half  Lives 
We  have  printed  several  letters  which 
show  the  hard  problems  some  of  our  read¬ 
ers  must  face.  We  find  our  people  very 
sympathetic  over  such  things,  and  they 
are  always  interested  in  the  other  man’3 
story.  So  here  is  another  side  of  life, 
not  often  revealed,  but  none  the  less  true. 
We  have  no  doubt  there  are  many  elderly 
people  sit'iated  in  much  the  same  way : 
I  hardly  know  how  to  express  my  own 
thoughts.  I  am  a  lone  widow,  74  years 
ot  age,  American  ;  own  a  64-acre  farm, 
but  death  leaves  me  alone.  I  don’t  want 
help  this  Winter,  only  to  make  snow 
paths  to  street,  chicken  house,  etc.,  but  1 
do  want  that.  I  would  board  for  a  small 
amount  a  good  respectable  man,  an  old 
man  preferred,  that  would  like  a  real 
homelike  place  for  little  expense.  I  re¬ 
alize  there  are  such  people  in  the  world, 
and  am  wondering  as  I  look  over  your 
paper  if  you  could  inform  me  of  such  a 
person  or  someone  of  my  inquiry,  and 
they  could  communicate  with  me.  *  Noth¬ 
ing  except  respectable  need  apply.  I  took 
one  old  man,  77  years  of  age.  He  lived 
with  me  over  two  years,  when  death 
claimed  him.  I  don’t  know  that  this 
comes  in  your  lines  of  business,  but  it 
seemed  to  me  you  answered  most  every¬ 
thing  ;  possibly  you  could  or  would 
answer  this.  I  hope  that  you  know  some 
such  person,  or  a  rent  nearly  free  for  an 
old  man  and  wife  this  Winter,  as  I  don’t 
like  to  stay  alone.  mrs.  e.  m.  h. 
Connecticut. 
Those  Neglected  Rural  Cemeteries 
Mrs.  C.  S.  M,  on  page  1205,  asks 
about  caring  for  a  soldier’s  grave.  Per¬ 
haps  she  does  not  know  that  there  is  a 
law  in  New  York  State  that  abandoned 
or  unused  cemeteries  can  be  cared  for  by 
the  township  in  which  they  are  situated, 
by  the  supervisor  and  town  commissioner 
of  highways,  up  to  the  amount  of 
(about)  $50  per  year.  It  is  a  shame  and 
disgrace  to  let  those  old  small  cemeteries 
be  neglected  where  they  contain  the 
graves  of  those  old  soldiers  and  pioneers 
who  fought  our  battles  and  cleared  our 
forests,  built  our  roads  and  bridges, 
schools  and  churches,  that  we  might  en¬ 
joy  life  with  our  trucks  and  autos.  There 
are  some  old  cemeteries  in  our  county 
(Orleans)  cared  for  by  the  towns. 
I  would  suggest  that  Mrs.  C.  S.  M. 
call  on  several  of  the  people  of  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  about  that  cemetery,  after  the 
rush  of  farm  work  is  over,  and  the  road 
makers  quit  the  place,  and  induce  them 
to  make  a  bee  some  day  and  remove  the 
brush,  fill  the  hollows,  straighten  the 
slabs,  etc.,  and  then  ask  the  town  officers 
to  care  for  the  place,  telling  them  that 
there  is  a  law  for  same.  j.  f.  l. 
New  York. 
Judge:  “What’s  this  man  charged 
with,  officer?”  “Cop:  “Careless  walkin’, 
yer  honor.  He  bumped  into  a  truck  and 
bent  both  fenders  and  the  radiator.” — 
The  American  Legion  Weekly. 
Bound  in  Cloth 
Price  $1.00 
The  Rural  New-Yorker,  333  West  30th  St.,  New  York 
When  you  zvrite  advertisers  mention  The  R.  N.-Y.  and  you’ll  g 
quick  reply  and  a  “ square  deal.”  See  guarantee  editorial  p» 
