116 
American Agriculturist, August 18,1923 
Plenty of Variety in a Rural Nurse’s Life 
Miss Sara F. Buchanan Tells of Her Daily Experiences—New Fall Styles For the Girl 
T HE telephone jangled. Sleepily I 
reached out for the receiver. “Jeem’s 
sick and ( you come right away,” 
came the message in broken English. 
Not knowing any Jim, I was puzzled 
and said “Jim, Jim who?”; then: “This 
is Vincenza Caopeleri and Jim’s our 
boarder.” I knew Vincenza so I said 
I would come around to see her. 
As rural public health nurse in one 
of the districts of northern Westches¬ 
ter County, N. Y., I had become well 
acquainted with the Italians in the 
little settlement just outside our pretty 
village. Soon I had my Ford from 
the garage and was on my way to find 
Jim. I found him in the building- 
known as the “Old Church,” once a 
place of worship, now a tenement 
house. Children seemed fairly to 
swarm from the building. 
Jim was lying on a cot in a tightly 
closed room, covered with many blan¬ 
kets. It was a July morning. It 
seemed as if every Italian woman in 
the place had come into the room and 
all were talking at the same time. 
Jim spoke English very well but the 
difficulty was to hear him above the 
others. I took his temperature and 
found it high. I gave a warm bath, 
showing one of the women how to give 
it, and helped her make the bed, ex¬ 
plaining at the same time the need of 
fresh air in the room. Since Jim \Vas 
only a boarder I dared to suggest to 
him the advisability of going to the 
hospital. He consented to do so if I 
would make the arrangements. 
A Health Center Under a Tree 
The children and mothers followed me 
to the door asking innumerable ques¬ 
tions. I felt the need more than ever 
of a Health Center where I could save 
time by meeting the mothers in groups, 
for my territory is large and even 
with the help of the Ford I find I must 
conserve every minute of time. So I 
said, turning to the children, “I should 
like to have a room where we could all 
gather but I do not know of one, so 
we will meet next Wednesday after¬ 
noon under this tree. I will, bring my 
scales and we will get weighed and 
measured.” 
I was surprised and gratified when 
one of the mothers, with twins in her 
arms and another pair at her skirts 
said, “I have a room you may use.” 
... 
v* \ is/*.A. s 
the mothers, seeing their children so 
much underweight and learning that 
the diseased condition of their tonsils 
might be the cause, consented to see 
their family physician and on his ad¬ 
vice have the tonsils removed. They 
now are most enthusiastic in watching 
their children gain. 
Magazines with attractive advertise¬ 
ments were contributed by interested 
friends for scrapbooks and posters. 
The children made menus and cut out 
appropriate advertisements to illus¬ 
trate the food selected. 
From a Borrowed Room to a Per¬ 
manent One 
We had to'give up our room when 
cold weather came “For,” said Mrs. 
Cavelli, “this is our warmest room in 
winter and we use it for the children, 
but you can have it again next 
summer.” 
This small beginning, however, 
showed my committee the great need 
and after many efforts a most attrac- 
Miss Buchanan and some of her 
younger friends 
We looked at the room and found it 
would do. The chairman of my com¬ 
mittee sent a table from the Methodist 
Church, neighbors loaned us their 
chairs, we made our posters and in a 
twinkling we had our Health Center. 
On the afternoon of our opening we 
had thirty children present ranging 
from infants in arms to children of 
school age. I had two volunteer work¬ 
ers to assist with the weighing and 
measuring. We gave each child a 
health tag showing his actual weight 
and normal weight. 
The children became keenly interest¬ 
ed in getting up to normal. Two of 
tonsiloctomy was performed. Ruth no 
longer is classed as a backward pupil 
but made her grade and stands well. 
To Prevent Tuberculosis 
We have had a number of our chil¬ 
dren who have been in contact with 
tuberculosis examined at our tuber¬ 
culosis clinic. This clinic is held once 
a month, a specialist from the county 
hospital making the examinations. 
Henry was a boy of sixteen in his 
first year of High School. During the 
summer and on Saturdays he worked 
on a farm and in this way earned 
enough to keep himself in clothes. The 
boy was tall and pale and found him¬ 
self unduly tired after, a day’s work. 
He consented to go with me to the 
tuberculosis clinic. No organic trouble 
was found but the boy’s run down con¬ 
dition was due to lack of proper nour¬ 
ishment. A list of necessary foods was 
made out and by careful selection of 
these Henry has improved in physical 
appearance, but his condition has de¬ 
monstrated to us the need of serving 
at least one hot dish at lunch time in 
the schools. We hope to have this on 
a working basis in the fall. 
The defect most common among our 
rural school children, concerns the care 
of the teeth. While many parents are 
awakened to the necessity of having 
their children’s teeth cared for, many 
other neglect this important health 
measure. We hope in the near future 
to have a dental clinic so that every 
school child can have his teeth put in 
proper condition. 
from any farm light plant, or from any 
electric plant anywhere. The machine 
was purchased by the Farm Bureau at 
a cost of around $400. Mr. McFadden 
will show the pictures in every country 
school house, and in the small towns of 
the country. All sorts of farm pictures 
will be shown, some of the subjects be¬ 
ing Sheep and Wool, Lambs From the 
Range to the Market, From Wool to 
Cloth, cattle, horses and hogs in vari¬ 
ous phases, poultry, dairying, plant in¬ 
dustry, “Strawberries From Seed to 
Shortcake,” game, scenery and recrea¬ 
tion, industrial and humorous films. 
Mr. McFadden has many hundreds of 
films from which to choose, having ac¬ 
cess to those furnished by the United 
States Department of Agriculture, the 
Kansas Agricultural College at Man¬ 
hattan, and the State Normal School 
at Emporia.— Laura M. French. 
Snowdrifts cannot stop the sturdy 
little “Flivver” 
tive room has been secured in the cen¬ 
tral part of the village. The Civic 
Club has given us the use of their 
furniture, while posters were donated. 
In May, the State Department of 
Health gave us two days for a clinic for 
well children of pre-school age. Forty 
apparently well children were ex¬ 
amined, but after examination, in some 
instances, parents were, advised to con¬ 
sult their family physician in regard to 
defects found. Parents thus have the 
opportunity of freeing their children 
from physical handicaps before enter¬ 
ing school, which means reduced taxes 
for the taxpayer, for every time a 
child repeats his grade the taxpayer 
pays double for the education of that 
child. 
Sixteen public schools are within the 
limits of the district; all but four are 
one-room buildings. To do intensive 
school work has been impossible for 
one nurse who has also to give bedside 
care; but'by being with the doctors, 
when they made the physical examina¬ 
tion in the schools, the most imperative 
cases could be selected and the parents 
interviewed in regard to medical treat¬ 
ment. Sometimes, as in the case of 
Jackie’s eyes, treatment had been de¬ 
ferred too long. 
Two Different Types of Parent 
Soon after the medical examination 
in the school I saw Jackie’s mother and 
urged her to take the boy to an eye 
specialist. Jackie’s father is a prosper¬ 
ous farmer, so I felt there was nothing 
to prevent his having the treatment if 
his parents could be convinced of the 
necessity. The mother promised to 
take the child to an oculist. 
Several months later I asked the 
teacher if the child’s eyes had received 
treatment and was disappointed when 
she answered, “No.” I went again to 
Jackie’s home. This time I talked with 
the father and told him of the eye clinic 
we had recently opened. He promised 
to bring Jackie to our next clinic and 
was as good as his word. But the eye 
specialist found the sight in one eye 
almost gone, a condition which prob¬ 
ably could have been prevented a year 
or so earlier. 
Little Ruth’s parents did not neglect 
the doctor’s warning. Her card stated 
that she had diseased tonsils, and ad¬ 
vised her parents to see their family 
physician. At holiday time Ruth’s 
mother took her to the hospital and a 
FARM BUREAU BUYS “MOVIE” . 
OUTFIT 
The Lyon County Farm Bureau is 
the first organization of its kind in 
Kansas to own and operate a complete 
moving picture outfit. The picture ma¬ 
chine is operated by the Farm Bureau 
agent, C. L. McFadden, and the pictures 
can be shown any place to which a Ford 
car can be driven, as the agent’s car 
has been equipped with a complete 32- 
volt electrical generator which fur¬ 
nishes power to run the picture ma¬ 
chine. 
It can also be operated by power 
WHEN BRINING CUCUMBERS 
Many people complain of their in¬ 
ability to keep cucumbers that are put 
up in brine from softening and spoil¬ 
ing. I have never had any spoil and 
kept some of the first ones I put away 
for more than a year. 
I did not put in any water to make 
brine. The cucumbers were cut with a 
short stem left on each. I did not wash 
those I wished to pack, but wiped away 
any earth that was on them with a 
soft cloth. They were placed in a stone 
jar with generous layers of salt alter¬ 
nating with the pickles. They make 
their own brine without any moisture 
being added. They are, of course, kept 
weighted down. 
If pickles are wanted quickly I pour 
warm water over them when taken 
from the brine, soak, pour on cold 
water and allow water to heat. Re¬ 
peat until salt is out as desired.—M rs. 
John Land. 
Macaroni scramble. When you have 
cooked macaroni left over from din¬ 
ner, mash it fine and to each 2 cups 
or more of it add 4 eggs. Scramble this 
precisely as if doing eggs alone, using 
a good lump of butter in the pan, and 
the mixture cannot be told from gen¬ 
uine scrambled eggs. 
OUTFITTING THE SCHOOL GIRL FOR FALL 
L ATE summer brings home the need of getting school clothes ready and 
I for the mother who is confronted with outgrown dresses or completely 
empty wardrobes, these three styles have been chosen. Notice that every 
one may be used for new material or a make over. 
No. 9891 will just suit tho “awkward age” youngster, who has suddenly shot up into 
the air. It is equally suitable for her college big sister and comes in sizes for both— 
namely, 14, 16, 18 and 20 years. For the 16-years’ size use 3 yards 44-inch plaid and 
114 yards 44-inch plain material. Price 12c. 
‘TOE Spirit of 1776 “ might 
Xbe said to be a very jaunty 
one. Such a comfortable style 
for everyday wear! Comes in 
6 , 8, 10 and 12 years. Use 1% 
yards 36-inch material with 
1% yards 36-inch contrasting. 
Price 12c. 
A SLEEVELESS jacket dress 
for the growing girl, No. 
1674, cuts in sizes 6, 8, 10, 
12 and 14 years. Size 8 re¬ 
quires 1% yards 36-inch ma¬ 
terial, with 1% yards 36-inch 
bias printed material and 2 % 
yards skirting. Price 12c. 
To Order: Write name, address, pattern numbers and sizes clearly. 
Check up on all these figures, then enclose correct remittance and send to 
Pattern Department, American Agriculturist, 461 4th Avenue, New 
York City. 
Ready September 1: The mammoth fall and winter catalogue.—The best 
one we have ever published. Only 10c.—and worth many times that. Add 
five more two-cent stamps to your order and have it sent you after 
September 1st. 
