American Agriculturist, May 31, 1924 
What Electricity Means to a Woman 
The Step and Back Saver Pays For Itself—More About the Movies 
J UST what does it mean to have elec¬ 
tricity on a farm? It makes as 
[great difference in farm work as it does 
[to try to do the work in utter darkness 
| or in broad daylight. 
My individual work it lessens by half, 
j Of my working conveniences I would 
| mention first the electric washer, because 
[this takes the . greatest load from the 
woman’s shoulders. Formerly I used a 
[gasoline washer, but the electric is an 
improvement because it is cleaner, quieter 
and easier to operate. There is something 
[about the washboard, and even the best 
I hand-operated machine, which saps com- 
I pletely the strength and spirit. By using 
i electricity, a woman is able on the same 
I da}' to do the ironing or other important 
■ work; or if she wishes to go away in the 
I afternoon, she feels physically able to 
I do so. 
Of almost equal importance is the elec- 
I trie vacuum cleaner. The dirt .of the year 
| has been whirled around in the rooms over 
and over, but is now taken out. It is not 
I even necessary to take up rugs and carpets 
[each year, unless there are odors about 
| them for sun and wind to remove. In the 
[weekly clean-up I first thoroughly dust—■ 
[seems strange to dust first, doesn’t it?— 
[then go over rugs and carpets with the 
[cleaner and I have all the dirt. I clean 
| up a large house with the same time and 
lenergy that were once required to sweep 
[one room. With the cleaner are attach- 
J ments for cleaning a mattress, upholstery, 
curtains, furnace pipes, clothing, and a 
I cow—if you wish. 
coming the reality, of every farmer. A 
car has come to be a paying investment; 
but I believe that a lighting plant is of 
more value and satisfaction to a family 
than a pleasure-car. 
Expense Can Be Kept Down 
The expense of operating depends 
somewhat on how well the owner cares for 
his plant, how careful you are about 
burning lights, the number of bulbs re¬ 
quired to light your buildings, and how 
many of them you keep turned on—it is 
not necessary to have the whole house 
illuminated when the entire family is 
assembled in the one room. Naturally, 
more charging will be required in winter 
than in summer. 
A last word—this in regard to fixtures. 
On these do not try to economize too 
greatly. But bear in mind that some of the 
most appropriate fixtures are not the most 
expensive. Do not choose cumbersome- 
looking affairs, which seem more suited to 
a ballroom or theater lobby than to a 
home. Let simplicity guide. Pass, by 
ornate shades. Dainty colored ones are 
pleasing to work into color schemes, espe¬ 
cially for bedrooms, but if no color scheme 
is followed, it is safer to cling to white or 
cream.— Mrs. Elizabeth Hoag. 
Why Wait for Irons to Heat? 
Needless to say the electric iron is a 
[great thing in hot weather, but is an im- 
I provement at any time. It is so conve- 
I went to be able to do a bit of pressing with- 
| out waiting for a hot fire and irons to heat. 
[The iron requires more electricity than 
either the washer or cleaner, so one should 
J have the clothes ready to iron without 
| waste of time. 
These are the really important house¬ 
hold conveniences; of course, there are 
many others that are nice to have 
| when we feel able to indulge in luxuries. 
These changes in my housework have 
meant a great deal to me, because I have 
a hundred and one tasks in addition to the 
housework. Time and strength thus 
saved would mean much to any farmer’s 
wife, who could use this extra time and 
strength in poultry, gardening, or small 
fruit raising, any of which would mean 
| money for her. 
Indoors, if it is a gloomy day, we can 
paint or paper, clean the clothes-closets, 
pantry, woodshed or cellar just the same. 
And we can catch up the tag ends in the 
[ evenings. 
A Word for the Man, Too 
I am not intending to say much about 
fhe help electricity gives the man, for he 
"■ill have no trouble thinking of it all. 
Kut simply the convenience .of a well- 
lighted house and barns is worth all the 
denial the system may demand of you. 
imagine doing chores in “daylight” 
through the long winter! Imagine always 
having it light in silo and haymow! 
Imagine, when getting up at midnight to 
doctor a sick cow, pushing a button on 
Setting out of bed, and other buttons here 
a >id there until the stable is reached— 
making a light ahead of you all the way! 
I°o, in connection with the barn there is 
n ° worry about some careless hand up- 
setting a lantern. 
As to the matter of having out-of-the- 
!i a y places lighted, by all means do not 
’j'J 1 them to curtail the expense. A few 
aided lights will not mean much more 
|? st “i installation, but will mean every- 
amg later to your convenience. 
Now, I can hear ninety-nine farmers 
?. °I °ne hundred say: “Out of the ques- 
l0 n> Can’t afford it.” But—aye you 
^ne, farmer-man? Do you consider it 
ut of the question to buy a car? A car 
as °nce the dream, and is now fast be- 
What is the Matter with the Movies? 
(Continued from page 513) 
“I have tested out the memories of 
boys and girls who attend movies fre¬ 
quently, and have been astonished to 
find how little they retain. They can 
hardly remember the story of a picture 
a day or so after it is seen. This is 
progressive too; that is, constant atten¬ 
dance on the movie actually harms the 
memory and makes the mind less active 
and alert. 
“It is trite to say that the body and the 
mind grow sluggish or alert together. 
But nowhere is this so easily proved as 
in the play activities of a group of boys 
and girls. Play which keeps one active, 
which loosens up one’s muscles, also 
loosens up the mind. Games requiring 
quick thinking react upon the individual 
to produce quick action. 
“Even though farmers work hard and 
get much physical action during their 
day, it is not necessarily the stimulating 
kind. In experimenting with farm chil¬ 
dren who are used to doing their share 
of the ‘chores,’ I found them often 
acutely self-conscious and awkward when 
it came to games demanding lightness 
and quickness. Folk dances and similar 
games brought out qualities which the 
youngsters had never had occasion to 
use before. In the same way, city chil¬ 
dren, whose life develops them more 
artificially, need practice in games which 
develop muscular strength and staying 
qualities. Neither country nor city 
children obtain any stimulus in the right 
direction from a substitution of moving 
pictures for the truer recreation which is 
the right of their leisure time. 
“And what is true of young people is 
true to a large degree of adults. Few of us 
use either our bodies or our minds to the 
best and fullest extent; the moving 
picture dulls both, and is therefore, I 
believe, an actual menace in present-dav 
life.” 
A Side Light on Mechanical Difficulties 
VX/'HEN a moving picture leaves the 
» ’ hands of the producer, it usually is, 
to the best of his knowledge and belief, 
a good picture. 
When the farmer and his wife see the 
same much-advertised feature at their 
local theater, it is often so entirely differ¬ 
ent that the producer would hardly 
recognize his own output. 
What happens to it between the pre¬ 
release showing in the office of the firm 
and the performance at the little local 
theater in the country community? 
In the first place, the film is not so new. 
If a local exhibitor can afford only a very 
little money for his films, he naturally 
can not expect to get them when they are 
in first-class condition. If the films 
shown at your theater seem old, break 
frequently, and are not clear ask your 
exhibitor whether it would not be worth 
his wTiile to pay a little more and get 
better material to show. 
Then, too, the machine which runs off 
a moving picture is a pretty intricate 
piece of mechanism. It needs careful 
handling and ought to be studied thor¬ 
oughly by the man who operates it. 
Many of the flaws which he and his 
audience lay to the condition of the film 
are really due to unintelligent use of the 
•machine or careless hit-or-miss methods 
of running it. Here, as in everything 
which involves mechanical knowledge, 
it pays to study the equipment carefully 
and to give it the best possible handling 
and manipulation. 
Short-Sighted Playing for Profits 
Many local exhibitors put all the blame 
on the films sent them, whereas their own 
lack of care and knowledge is in great 
measure responsible for the mangled 
showing. Often whole stretches of film, 
enough to occupy ten minutes and 
possibly containing the explanation of a 
scene, are dropped out “accidentally” 
and the audience blames the picture for 
being incoherent. Other small exhibitors 
are so anxious to draw a good crowd that 
they announce two feature pictures for 
one evening, hoping to attract every 
possible patron in this way. Now each 
of these pictures was planned to be by 
itself the feature of an evening’s program. 
In order to run off both in only a little 
more than the time that should be 
allowed for one, the exhibitor cuts whole 
sequences from each of them, matching 
the pieces together again hastily and 
with only a very vague idea of what the 
effect will be. Then, still afraid he can 
not run off both pictures in the time of an 
ordinary program, he turns the crank at 
top speed, flashing the films more quickly 
than they were meant to be shown. The 
audience, unconscious of the liberties 
taken with the original, goes home 
disappointed and disgusted and the 
exhibitor wonders why the much-ad¬ 
vertised features were such a “flop.” 
Both usually blame the producer of the 
picture. 
Any one who is really interested in 
better moving pictures should get ac¬ 
quainted with the exhibitor. Complain 
to him if the pictures are run too quickly, 
if they are badly cut or if they break 
often. Not all the faults are his, of 
course, but if you show that you notice 
bad management of the machine, and 
are critical of it, it may encourage him to 
perfect his method of showing the films. 
“Nobody notices” is an easy excuse, 
but a little friendly criticism has shown 
many exhibitors that it pays to be care¬ 
ful even about small details.— Carl 
Laemmle, Universal Pictures. 
■^TEXT WEEK a suggestion as to 
how a small rural community can 
help to get better films and make 
them pay. Write and tell us what 
plan you are working on in your 
home town and if you need help, let 
us know. We can put you in touch 
with several agencies working for 
better moving pictures. 
Nicest coat or clothes hangers can be 
made from half-barrel or keg hoops. 
Bend a piece of wire, and fasten it as the 
hook. I use them freely when ironing to 
hang middy blouses, skirts or shirts on. 
Also place clothes away in closet or 
wardrobe on these. 
* * * 
It’s nice to have cut flowers in the 
house, but it isn’t so nice if no one re¬ 
moves the dead and dying. 
■11 
521 
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Creamery, Dairy and Dairy 
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