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Show the front room. The kitchen Is where the barriers of etiquette are let down, or Ignored, and where folks put their feet on the kitchen stove, and the spirit of utter American democracy finds fullest expression. Here is the sphere of the boot, the "overall," the hickory shirt, and the cheerful expression. Here la the spot where comfort does not mas querade In strange attire nor with FROM CITY TO FARM old-tim- e cow-hid- who listen with credulity to tho whUporinys of fancy; who purrao with tho phantom of hope; who ozpoct that ayo will perform the promise ol youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will he supplied by attend to the history of Remains, Prince of Abyssinia. the morrowi Y . Author By ERNEST McGAFFEY omj farm-house- (Copyright, ' Winter by Joseph B. Bowles j Days the fall came w began to Early In iet ready tor winter. the shuckers had started corn fields, and the in to strip the WTien ears had sounded for many dully through the distance woods the flame in the Down days. of the red maples had dwindled away to ashes, the torches of running vines and sassafras had been smothered by and the frosts, and the grass curled as the brown more a to rusty crisped Only the chill winds swept by. crows, hawks and an occasional redblrd were seen, except when or corn quail burst from the thicket field to whizz over the space between them and the thickest cover. enIn the edges of ravines that croach on corn fields, and on pasture alopes and in woods adjacent the hicktheir ories and walnuts, stripped of On the leaves, showed somberly. ground under them the nuts lay, and even In their branches, especially the limbs of the hickories, a myriad nuts clustered and clung. In some timber there were butternut trees, and under these the butternuts lay, conically sheathed in thick and oily green covWe had located a number of erings. promising trees, and as soon as the frost had dropped the nuts, we were early with bags and sticks, and besieged these forest fortresses. The walnuts were easiest gathered, but as they were encased in their heavy It was hulls, like the butternuts, quite a job to get them ready to be In carried home. By laying them piles, and pounding them with a thick stick, and then tramping on them with hobnailed shoes, the hulls could be nearly all worn off, and then by removing the rest with our hands the tattoo of Hying blue-jay- process was completed. But despite the use of old gloves, our fingers and hands quickly took on the stain of walnuts, and long before a bushel of them we were quite ready to lay aside the bunglesome gloves and go to work A lovely mahogany tint, warranted to last for months, now we had gotten developed on our hands, and we were careless of it so long as the bags became heavy with spoil. The hickory nuts were gathered easier, as the frosts for the most part had shaken off the hulls as the nuts dropped, and the only difficult thing about hickorynutting was. to climb the trees and shake down those nuts which still clung to or scaly-bar- k the trees. As a shell-barhickory has bark which juts sharply down and out, climbing a tree of this kind Is much like climbing a liberty pole wound solidly about vith barbed wire. However, with much laceration of trousers and "overalls the feat was usually . accomplished. Around the hickory tree the fox squirrels divided the honors with us, and we saw them nearly every day during the late fall months getting ready, like we were, for wink ter. When we got our store of hickory nuts, walnuts and butternuts home (and I did the long and the short haul part of that part myself), we spread them out In the garret and dried them gradually until they were To go up into a windy garret on a cold winter day and bring a big bowl of assorted nuts down into the kitchen, is something which is nearly indispensable to the eternal fitness of things on farm. Where we were, along the river, there were also pecans, and We had over a bushel of these packed away with the rest, waiting for the "blowy days. Apples we had gathered and bought, and we had these packed away in barrels in the cellar. The sound ones bad been carefully selected, and every once and awhile we these barrels (at least I did) and sorted them over by candle-ligh- t so as to get out those which showed signs of One apple which has begun to &et bad Vvill quickly contaminate the nps which are In close contact with ttLike apples, like men. We had rennatins, Ben Davises, Northern Spys, Winesaps, and some others. We had put away a little kindling in the cellar for emergencies, but for the most part, our fires, both in the Htchen stove and the front room stove, were going all winter, night and usy. We used soft coal, mined within half a mile of us, and costing two dollars a ton delivered. The whole country in that part of the state is honeycombed with big and little veins t coal, and as one travels along the roads, in every direction will be seen the little plank entrances to the nes some of these mines being ere holes in the We had ground. wd, too, for variety, and this was up stove-lengtsize, and corded away in a dry shed. Wood was 75 csuta a cord. ith the cellar packed with vegetables and apples, with a barrel of er n one doctored so corner, hat It would remain sweet all ter, and not get "hard, with coal, ood and kindling all in, there wjr. nothing to do but say "let her blow, o far as winter was concerned. I had uilt raised plank walks to the sheds, smoke house and chickep house, where lost right for cracking. d rot-tiu- - we had stored some things, so that when the deep snows came I could improvise an Impromptu snow plow with a scoop shovel and have high and dry paths in every direction necessary In very short order. Generally In November the snows begin In that locality, and when the snow did come we were thoroughly prepared for It. From the tenth of November to the twentieth of December the quail season was on, and squirrels and rabbits could be shot at that time also, and as game of this kind was very plentiful, not only on the farm there, but on all the adjoining farms, it was the easiest matter in the world to keep the larder always stocked with game. Rabbits dressed and hung up for a few days in the cold will turn as tender as chicken, and then is the time of the year when they are literally rolling In fat. Squirrels, unless you get young ones, are tough muscled as athletes, and require from a couple of days to three weeks stewing to render them chewable. But the quail were there In plenty. Lenore called them "cuckoos, and she displayed a most lively Interest In my comings and goings with the gun, as she was very fond of "cuck-oob- . The bevies ran from 15 to 40 birds, the larger bevies two bevies being probably where I had hunted entiremingled. a dog, and It was ly without simply pitting my long experience against the cunning of the birds. I never needed to shoot more than three or four birds at the outside, and did not do so unless hunting on a neighbors farm, and then I would shoot him some birds for his table. The ominous signs of keep out and "No hunting allowed stared at me from every side, but as I was a on-pure "neighbor, these signs were not so much intended for me as they were for hunters from the towns or cities. I had gotten acquainted with nearly all of my neighbors within a radius of a number of miles, and when they saw I was not hunting to slaughter game, they were very generous in their willingness to let me shoot over broad-brimme- slate-colore- d close-packe- sim- their farms. Some of them, though, did not want any quail shot on their places, and It was sore temptation when hunting rabbits on these farms to have a bevy of quail spring out from under my feet, In easy range, and dart into nice cover a little ways ahead. Many a time I would sight on some fat bird and Bay to myself dead bird as the quail sailed off,' but refrain from pulling the trigger. I did not shoot because the man relied on my promise to let his quail alone If I came on the farm to hunt, but I wanted to, mightily, every time I had the chance. But I did not kill the quail where I had promised not to, and I went on no mans land without his permission. I do not believe it is as bad to desire strongly to do a forbidden thing, as to do It Tis one thing to be tempted, Horatio; Another thing to fall. We took long walks in the winter days even when the weather was cold, striking across fields and pastures, and going Into the timber and along the ravines. Winter woods are always beautiful, and by bundling up warm even women and children will enjoy. these tramps. Sometimes we went on sled-ridewrapping up warm in old coverlets and blankets and climbing into "low-so- t and spinning around on the country was roads. The jingle of sleigh-bell- s an almost inevitable accompaniment of winter nights when snow lay thick and hard on the highways, and often when we were In bed, we would hear them sound faint and far, and then near and nearer until they clashed past the gate in a Tintinnabulation of the bells, bells, bells," to fade out in the distance and leave the silence less than sound when they were gone. We read a good deal during the winter days and evenings, and Cecile read the Bible clear through one winter from cover to cover. I wonder how many women have really read the Bible through? Or men, either, for that matter. I devoted some considerable time to the Encyclopedia Brltannica, and refreshed my memory with my old favorite books. The How they old literary landmarks! shine steadfast and serene while everything else seems to diminish and wane. "Books were his chiefest friends; In them he read Of those great spirits who went down like suns, of Yet left upon the mountain-top deah A 1 d MAIL-ORDE- R ADVERTISING THAT COUNTS TOWN. Necessity for Sewer Systems and Other Sanitary Measures. JUNK 1 PUTS Upon the healthfulness of a city IN depends much of its success and its growth. Towns that are not reputed to be sanitary places are generally . One is often SIGHT OF WOMAN evaded by HITCHED, TO Impressed with the fact that In small WAGON SHOCKS RESIDENTS towns typhoid and malarial fevers are T ' OF EVANSTON, ILL. often more frequent and afiliot greatt er numbers according to population than in the large cities. The simple reason for this is the neglect of sani- TAKES PLACE OF DEAD HORSE WIFE SHAFTS home-seekers- How Money and Trade Are Centralized in Great Cities to the Loss of the People in Agricultural Sections. "These are the days of trusts and this is an era of trusts, writes W. D. Perelval, late publisher of the Stanton (Neb.) Picket. "It Is contended that there are some good trusts, but of investigation have when the been turned upon them It has been impossible to locate the good points. the most menacing trust In the world Is the commercial combination that is intended to destroy the retail trade of the country, diverting it into the great money centers. This has reference to the catalogue houses that have grown up in the large cities within the past few years. We can all remember not long ago when there a country store at every and at the same time there were prosperous towns every few miles along every railroad. In each one of these towns there were from two to half a dozen general stores, besides the other stores that were handling special lines. They all enjoyed a good trade and sold goods at reasonable To-da- y s cross-road- s profits. In every agricultural and industrial section of the country you can notice the results that have been brought about by the catalogue houses. The stores have gone, and In the towns business houses have been vacated, their windows boarded up and the former occupants driven into bankruptcy or other occupations. Not that the catalogue houses have sold 'cheaper than the small merchants, but they have flooded the country with catalogues and advertisements, alluring away the trade that rightfully belonged at home. These catalogue houses are owned and managed by able business men, built upon the broad gauge plan, who realize the benefits to be derived from advertisTo-da- cross-road- s ing. They have organized an advertising campaign and each year they are spending fortunes, not only publishing and sending out catalogues, but they have built up a combination of newspapers that are nothing but mail order journals. It is shown that the combined circulation of these sheets aggregate 32,000,000 copies per month. These they send broadcast over the country at their own expense. They do-n- ot stop at this, but go into every magazine, agricultural, religious and other paper that will accept their advertising. They pay the top price for this advertising and In this way they are enabled to reach about every farmer in the land. They set aside each year millions of dollars for ad- vertising. Thus It wijl be seen that the catalogue houses and certain classes of publishers are in a combine that constitutes one of the most damnable trusts ever known. So far the country press, although frequently approached, has turned a deaf ear to the siren voice of these destroyers of home trade. In return for this, the country merchants should be liberal In their patronage of the local papers, which have demonstrated that they are true friends in a time of need. The mail-orde- r houses are in the business for money and the only way to combat them Is to agree upon a line of action. The country press and the country merchants must get together and start a campaign of education. The country press Is on the right side and by all working together and for one purpose, the grip now enjoyed by the catalogue houses can be broken towards the river, there were tho and trade turned back into Its legititracks of mink and rabbit, of raccoon mate channels. and prowling fox. Once I saw a fox, Frog Farming; A New Industry. but It was for the fraction of a secFrog farming is destined sooner or ond only, and his red brush disappearto become a very Important nalater ed like a shred of trailing autumnal tional Industry. I predict that within vine before a winter storm. a few years few farmers will very Cloistered as we were In this temto utilize their waste swampy neglect seaall most of of the retired the ple land for the rearing of frogs for the sons, we nevertheless found a thouthe United States sand ways of enjoying both indoors market. Already more frogs in six months, It Is uses and outdoors, and as the months drift than France does in a year. ed from November to February we claimed, of the annual catch In the value The scarcely felt the rigors of the time. United StateB is fully $200,000 and the when of were course, There days, value to the hunters is more the air was like a knife; when an open gross There Is not the slightthan $50,000. from in the face door meant a blow In the world that were frogs est doubt the wind; when a neighbor stamping available the value of the annual catch in brought an Icy breath from outside would leap at once to more than a milthat chilled to the very marrow al- lion dollars. Technical World. most before the doors could be closed. But for the most part the winter He Was Also an Expert. weather was merely bracing and Inone A strange story comes from It always brought with It of the Balkan states, where commervigorating. the necessity of resistance; the feel- cial morality la still in its Infancy. ing that something was to be met At a recent banquet given at the with and overcome. It drove the lan- home of the prime minister a distinout of the system, and while guished diplomat complained to his guor it roughened lips and cheeks, It sent host that the minister of justice, next the blood spinning through ones to whom he was sitting, had taken veins. his watch. The prime minister said: Even when the January thaws gave Ah, he shouldn't have done that. a false feeling of early spring to the I will get it back for you. Sure air, there was somehow a menace of enough, towards the end of the eventhe last months Javelins to come. And ing the watch was returned to its when February had stormed and capowner. And what did he say? asked He does not know Sb h! tured the last withered leaves of the the guest. oaks In front of the house; when the I have got It back," said the prime Canada geese flew north .in trailing minister. and wedge-shapeflocks; when the No Slipper for Him. the ducks followed, dropping Into Albert, who is five years old, was fields to search for stray ears of corn among the tumbled stalks that recently accompanied by his grandstill remained; when there was a ma to select a birthday present for his softer blue In the skies above when mother. He wanted something uselater the earliest blue bird quavered; ful" and, after many rejections, it when the first violet bloomed; when was suggested that they buy a pair spring came on as softly as the moss of opera slippers, when he promptly said: about the roots of oak and maple "No; mamma's got too many of even then we felt the enchantment of now. I wouldn't mind getting them with mourned and the us, winter b taken button passing of the sheeted and ghostly off so boots, for they cant easy. snows. sign-manu- bob-sled- s light that made them lovely. In the really blustery and disagreeable days, when the winds roared in the chimney, and the atmosphere was gray with shifting snows, we genThe erally retired to the kitchen. kitchen of a farm house, it may be remarked In passing, is the really comfortable and ultra sacred precinct of the entire establishment. If you are a on terms of real friendship with to his admitted be will you farmer, If you are just an ackitchen. will be ushered Into quaintance, you d PRESS FORCE OF AGAINST COUNTRY TOWNS. THE IMPROVING COMBINE BIG e a forced smile. To sit around a good fire in a kitch , en of a with a raging snow storm snarling at the doors and windows, with a pitcher of cldet which can always be refilled, with plenty of hickory nuts and walnuts on hand In the garret, with apples from the cellar on plates, and with cookies or doughnuts to fill In any stray abdominal crevices, is to enjoy life. And of course, now and then, a rollicking tune from the fiddle. There is something in a climate where the rigor of the year closes In for a spell that appeals very keenly to me. There Is anticipation In the message and farewells of late autumnal days, and the signs on the window panes of the advance guards of the north. When we went into the pastures and around the feed-lot- s where the cattle crunched their cornstalks, thS snowbirds would scatter In dusky bands, and watchful crows in the timber cawed warily and swung from their airy perches as we approached. Along the rail fences the tracks of field mice showed, and around the shocks of corn In the fields where the men had been "shucking out the corn there were the tracks of rabbits and quail. The juncos and chickadees flitted Infrequently above garden and orchard, and stray hawks sailed past toward the river bottom. From the window we could see the teams go past to town, some wagons loaded with coal, some buggies carryFrom the nostrils ing a lone driver. of the horses the frosty breath puffed and curled plainly In the nipping air, and the wheels of the wagons squeaked audibly over the drifts. The mail carrier came regularly so long as the roads were passable, but when infrequent thaws rendered the highways an impassable morass, we waited and watched for him In vain. School children went by night and morning, swinging straps with a book In maybe, or carrying their pails or baskets with which they had takes their dinners to school. The drifts piled in to the fence corners, and the landscape beyond and all around us wsb etched against the distant horizon as clear and sharp as a cameo. The sunsets were magnificent; the starlight nights Indescribably brilliant. The dawns came cold and red, and red and cold the sun went down. It was a strange, still, trance-lik- e time, where you were thrilled with pictures of a snowy fairy-land- , and yet where the warmth of a fire was like the greeting of your best friend. Everywhere one looked on a frosty morning there were the thin, wavering columns of farmhouse smoke ascending into the gray dome above. Signals of life and endeavor; mute heralds of greeting from house to house. Some days I would take my skates and wade through the snows down to the lake, and where I could find, as I sometimes did, a clear space which had been swept by the brooms of the wandering wind, 1 would skate by myself among the shadows cast by blanketed tree trunks and withered Sometimes I would find in vines. fine traceries of almost Impalpable of others who snow the had come and gone with their skates, leaving the silent spaces more silent for their going. Along thlB lake, and further in to where Its swampy edges backed In of Can and Hod" " Outdoor j, af "Petnw jf of tho Totan" Etc ONE tary improvement. In the charter of many towns provision for the building of sewerage systems Is overlooked, and years and years elapse before any consideration is given to the importance of providing a means for draining away the unwholesome increment that accumulates. Then It Is found that there Is a great amount of red tape before funds can be raised by taxation or by voting bonds for the building of a sewerage system. Small towns as well as large cities, generally draw their authority for the Frank Mulcaskl Solves Dilemma by Harnessing Helpmeet to Vehicle New Steed Needs Neither Hay Nor Oats. Chicago. Harnessed between the bhafts of a wagon heavily laden with old iron, bottles and rags, Mrs. Frank Mulcaskl, 55 years old, wife or as Evanston Junk dealer, has taken np tho task left off by the family horse at its death a few weeks ago, Supplied with especially fitted harmaking of public improvements from ness, she has made It possible for her the state.' While nearly ail the states husband, who pleads that he was too provide for bonding and the raising of poor to replace the dead horse, to confunds for Improvements In the larger tinue in business. cities and towns, the towns of 3,000 or Daily she draws the wagon through With5,000 population are neglected. the streets of Evanston and Wilmette in the past two years the state of Neand Its Miburbnn territory, responding braska, realizing the necessity of the with aliicilty to her husband's Gee and smaller towns having the privilege of of "whoa" and giddap. voting bonds and making assessments "haw have been added to the vocabagainst property for the building of ulary with which she Is addressed, Insewerage systems, enacted a state law dignant residents say. They are puzcovering all the points Involved. This zled as to how to stop the spectacle. law has already been beneficial, a Although Mrs. Mulcaskl had been number of the Incorporated villages doing substitute duty for the horse the for several weeks, general knowledge and towns . having commenced of the fact did not come to the resibuilding of Bewerage systems. It is always well when contemplat- dents of Evanston until the other day, ing the building of sewers to esti- when she appeared in one of the prinmate that the town Is likely to grow, ciple streets drawing the wagon, which and that a system adequate to give was loaded half a ton of Iron. Herenecessary drainage for a town of 3,000 tofore her efforts had been confined to would be Inadequate for a town twice tho outskirts, where she astonished the size, and as tho town grows tho suburban residents and automobile original plans are found lacking and parties. old sewerage lines of little utility, as During the journey through the downtown district of Evanston, her they must be replaced by new systems. The economic value of perfect husband either wulkcd near Ik. or drainage for a town cannot be over- visited visited houses along the street He estimated. The health of the people in scat ch of chance customers. is paramount to all other things, and carried a whip which he formerly had employed in urging his horse along, where there are unsanitary conditions a town cannot expect to enjoy but he was not seen to strike his wife the greatest prosperity, though the with it. Mulcahkl's home is outside of (he doctors, who are residents of the place, Evanston city limits. He occupies & good pracmay have exceptionally tice. o-l- BUYERS Infringements Doing a es SHOULD BEWARE. of Mail-Orde- Patents r by Concerns Business. Recently the United States circuit court for the southern district of New York handed down a decision which is of particular interest to thousands of farmers throughout the land. Two large manufacturers of cream separators Instituted a suit for infringements of their patents against houses. one of the largest The dcclston of the court was In favor of the complainants and a decree was rendered granting a permanent Injunction and masters order on accounting in favor of the complainants. This case has been before the courts for the past two years. It Is claimed that thousands of the separators, infringements upon the patents owned by the complainants, have been sold to farmers throughout the country. The laws of the United States forbid the using of patented machines, as well as the making and selling of the same. The court order means that mail-orde- r concern will be comthe mail-orde- r pelled to pay an equitable amount upon each machine manufactured and sold, as well as the payment of other damages on account of such manufacture and sales. It also means that the two companies, who are the complainants, can prevent each purchaser of the infringed cream separator us- ing the same, or to pay a royalty for the using of the same. The people should derive a lesson from this. It Is not safe to purchase r any Invention put out by a concern unless there Is positive proof Anthat it Is not an infringement. other thing is, were people Inclined to patronize home concerns there would be little chance of being Imposed upon, and should trouble arise over the validity of any patent. It Is much easier to adjust matters with the home merchant than with some foreign r house. mail-orde- mail-orde- Coal Trade. coal trade, Is one of the greatest single movements of cargo in the world. From Pittsburg to New Orleans is 2,000 miles, all downhill. Coal In 1,000-tobarges is rafted into fleets and towed down this distance by powerful steamboats, at a cost of less than 75 cents a ton, against a railroad rate of about $1.50 from Pittsburg to Memphis for 43 cents, against a rail rate of $2.70. Millions of tons of coal have gone this way and always will go this way, because the boats have only to drift, and those that come hack, mostly empty, are not hard to shove upstream. Everybodys. Ohio-Mississip- The which eilstB Ohio-Mississip- to-da- n Ear Protection for Gunners, The British admiralty have given attention to the question of ear protection during heavy gun firing, and It has been decided to use plasticine, with tho addition of cotton wool, but the form of ear protection to be usod is to be left to the individual choice1 of officers and men. Plasticine may he supplied to ships and gunnery schools if specially demanded. of 50 to 60 grains of cotton wool has ben recommended to insurt peifect safety. It Is jointed out tha' the cost of the mateiial is very smai and use is desirable in many cases. tumbledown cottage, scantily furnished. When the horse became 111 and died Mulcaskl was In a dilemma. Without his wagon to Jiaul the junk he could purchase, he was unable to make a living, and he had no money with which to replace the dead horse. Thes the thought of harnessing his wife the wagon occurred to him. Efforts to use the same harness with which the horse had drawn so many loads over roads which were almost Impassable proved unsuccessful until it was cut down. Straps were fitted about the shoulders of Mrs. Mulcaskl, who weighs nearly 200 pounds, and the She experiment was undertaken. found that she could draw the wagon, even if it contained a moderate load. Mulcaskl kept to the outskirts of the town at first with his novel steed," but lately he has been venturing more closely to the center of the city. The result was the general protest against the woman being allowed to draw the wagon. -op That Mulcaskl Is doing a business is evidenced by the size of tti load of Junk which was In his wagon. Bottles, Iron and rags were heaped Into the vehicle far above the top. "Whoa! the junk dealer called out when he darted on one occasion, around to the rear of a house where a customer was waiting. The wife drew the wagon up to the curbing, stopped and waited patiently until her husband appeared with a bundle of rags he had purchased. At times Mulcaskl was seen to consult with his wife concerning he had made and routes to be taken. In addition, she was watchful for chance customers, pointing them out when her husband failed to notice them. This was an advantage he d.d not enjoy when his horse was alive. Besides, he had to buy oats and hay, tie 'he animal up when he was to be absent for some time and even blanket it. Some of those who have watched Mulcaskl's nuvements assert that he does not always walk when his wife is drawing the wagon. This, and many other stories, as told of the strange woman who hi takrn up the burden of the hc.r. pne-chase- g |