Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1914 — MODERNIZING AN OLD FARM HOME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MODERNIZING AN OLD FARM HOME

by MRS. F. F. SHOWERS

SHE farmer; without whom no other class of society could exist, seemingly thinks the least of home comforts, wife, akd children. All are thought of in relation'to how much and in what way they will increase the revenue of the farm. I said to a farmer recently. “Why don’t you, nut such and such comforts into your home instead of 4 continually expending more money to make your horses, hogs, and cattle more comfortable and sanitary?” He answered, “The house does not bring in money,” as though all we lived for was the mere possession of money! One cannot pick up a farm paper without reading an account of a corn-growing contest, a fat-stock shpw, a poultry show, and noting the prizes offered for the results obtained. All of these tend to stimulate the boys and girls to become more interested in the farms and not to be satisfied with anything Isut the best. These contests are commendable and are serving to educate our boys and girls by placing before them tangible* standards they may seek to secure. This education causes them to be dissatisfied with their previous attainments, and the result is progress. The boy sees the result of the carefully selected seed, the painstaking preparation of the seed bed made possible by some piece of machinery he is not in possession of, and the result is new seed and new machinery. You think you see the immediate result of this added expenditure of money, but how about you daughter? You may be giving her the domestic science course in the high school, but are you willing to spend the same amount of money for her to put into operation the knowledge she has acquired? Co-operation is the key word of today. The wife

has co-operated with the husband from the beginning of time. It is high time the husband co-operated with the wife and daughters. Now, this co-operation is not as costly as it may seem. When I give you the figures on the cost of installing the modern conveniences we have in our home I am sure you will agree with me that many can afford to expend the amount, when the results are taken Into consideration. Get together, study your conditions, and you ' will be sur l prised with the amount of pleasure you derive from planning and rearranging your home. I should like to suggest that you give your farm some suitable and appropriate , name, a name by which it will be recognized not only

in that immediate locality, but a name that will mean something to future generations. We have named our farm “The Manx,” in honor of my father, who was born on the Isle of Man. * The house as a whole is shown in one of the illustrations. The stones for the porch, which is teen feet wide and fifty feet around the outer wall, were taken from the pasture. The floor, of the porch is cement and slopes towards either corner, where drains are I wish to call your attention to the number and height of the windows of the house, which provide health-giving air and light. The chimney is built in the center of the house from the cellar bottom. It contains three independent flues from the basement to the top, one for the furnace and ene eltch for the two fireplaces. The cesspool is 'situated in the lot just beyond the maple tree. The windmill, which pumps the water and air for the large pressure tank in the basement, is located at the corner of the barn. A self-regulating device is attached to the mill so that when the pressure i £ the tank reaches sixty pounds a lever is forced upwards and starts to throw the mils out of gear by the time the pressure has been increased to eighty pounds the mill is entirely out of gear and remains so until we draw water enough to reduce pressure in the tank, when the mill is again thrown in gear. A thirty barrel galvanized tank is located in the hay mow of the barn into which is conducted the soft water from the eaves of the barn. The water from this tank is conveyed to the house through a one and a half inch pipe, and furnishes sufficient water for ihe summer monthsDuring the winter months the soft water is ob-: tainecbfrom a large cistern, the connection with which I shall explain later. There are cement walks leading from the front and side porches to the driveway and also to the barn. Another illustration is that of the basement showing the large pressure tank which receives the water from the windmill. The supply pipe is tapped near the barn and supplies water in the barn. The pressure tank supplies water for the basement, kitchen, and bathroom on the second floor, besides furnishing power to run the lift pump and supplying water for lawn and garden. The hot air pipes of the furqace open directly* into the shafts above the furnace so that there are no side pipes excepting the one running to the kitchen. The vegetable callar open directly from the furnace room and has an opening into one of the flues of the chimney so as to carry off all foul odors. In the basement is also & gasoline gas machine which furnishes the gas for lighting the house and bam and for the cooking of all our meall. The carburetor, which will hold'two barrels of gasoline, is bnried in the ground'outside of the house. The shell holds about eight hundred pounds of sand and by its weight unwinds a fan or pump which drives the air out to the carburetor where is becomes saturated and returns to the mixer w>.«jco it Is further diluted with air

before passing through the riser to all parts of the house and barn. The corner of the laundry containing the pres; sure gauge, lift pump, and pressure tank connected with the cistern, is shown in one of the illustrations. The connection with the lift pump is cut off in the summer months as we have had plenty of soft, water from the tank in the harn. By means of this lift pump and pressure tank the pressure in the soft water pipes is the same as that in the hard water pipes and does atyay with waiting for the lift pump to work, t Directly above the laundry and connected by a stairway is the kitchen. On one side of the landing of this stairway is the refrigerator and on the other side a wood box. These are both filled from the outside of the house. All of the floors on the first floor are hard maple, either waxed or oiled, and covered with rugs. The kitchen, shown in one of the illustrations, is paiHted in white enamel and the walls are covered with white oil cloth paper in tile design. In this kitchen is a large center table with a sink in one,corner, above which you see the hard tyater faucet and the hot and cold soft water faucets. The table is 58x38 inches and stands 33 Inches from the floor. The sink is 18x34 inches. With the help of a board which I can slide over the sink, I can increase the size of my table. At the end of the table is a large drawer for kitchen spoons, kniveß, forks, etc. This room has three windows and a door containing a window. There are built-in cupboards and flour and bread bins, all'out of the way of dust. The gas range in the comer of the room is like any city gas range and furnishes sufficient heat for the serving of twenty or thirty people. The hot water tank,shown in the picture is heated during the winter months by the furnace which has a coil of one and onehalf inch and one inch pipe connected directly with this tank. The tank furnishes sufficient heat for the kitchen, and we found the water hot enough to attach a radiator in the living room, thus adding much to the comfort of the room and saving on the fuel bill. The dining room opens from the kitchen and also haß openings Into the Hying room and parlor. In this room you see one of the home-made fireplaces. A form was made on the floor of this room and into it was poured the cement In which was imbedded woven wire for reinforcement. In the cement the chips, taken from the stones in building the front porch, were stuck. This was allowed to dry for five days; after which it was placed in position as you see It There is another fireplace similar to this and directly back of it in the parlor. In a comer of the dining room is a built-in china closet and sideboard, with supboard below. Directly behind the china closet is a built-in bookcase in the living room. Opening out. of the kitchen is the back stairway leading to the bedroom. .This is finished In white, the same as tbe kitchen. We also have

three kinds of water in the faucets over the lavatory. Opening into the same hall into which the bathroom opens is the den or library, from which room there is an outside door opening onto an upper porch for airing bedding and shaking rags. There is a long hall connecting these rooms with the front hall, into which the bedrooms open and which also leads to the front stairway and to thq reception hall below. —IL—These, briefly enumerated, are the mechanical devices about which pages might be written in describing the conveniences they make possible, to say nothing of the sanitation. I know those who are employed in the kitchen noticed the location of the table in the center of the room and Its proximity to The gas range and built-in cupboards. It is also sanitary, as there are no openings and comers between sink and adjoining walls for the accumulation of dust. Woodwork and walls, being in white enamel, are easily kept clean. Having all kinds and plenty of water directly above the sink does away with lifting and carrying of water pails and garbage cans. The gas light directly above the table makes it impossible to get into your own shadow. The gas range needs but the lighted match, and the drudgery of carrying in wood, lighting and keeping up the tiVe, and carrying out the ashes is done away with. I shall here answer a question I know will arise, and that is the cost of fuel and light with this system. Our bill from July 3, 1911, to July 3, 1912, was fifty-two dollars, or one dollar a week for all cooking, baking, and lighting of the house and bam. Compare this with the time spent in getting up wood for the kitchen stove or the cost of-coal, or will those who live in the city compare these figures with their gas and electric light bills. The bathroom has appealed to more rural vial, tors at our home than has any other room in the house. Those of you who have come in from the hay field on a hot summer day or have come from a dusty, dirty threshing job, would know how to appreciate this room. Here you have hot or cold water as you wish, or soft or hard water to meet your fancy. The laundry’ is equipped with movable tubs, and hot water is to be had at all times when the furnace is being used. When the furnace is not in use a fire in the laundry stove supplies us with good hot water. There the washing Is away from the living rooms, and the steam is drawn op tbe flues of the main chimney, which does away with steam all over the house. The sink in the laundry is connected with the sewer pipes leading to the cesspool, thus carrying*off all waste water from the laundry. The last, and I suppose most Important picture is the bill of expense for installing these conveniences: 'T“ — * ' • Light and gas flxturerf, including gas machine, all piping, gas stove, and all fixtures 1262.47 Pressure tank, thirty barrel tank in bam, ~ digging of trench from windmill to bouse, pump at mill, piping, laundry, bathroom and kitchen equipments complete 295.00 Installation of furnace with all pipes and registers :. 135.00 Two fireplaces, including grates, tile, cement and labor 31.50 • $723.97 I know you will agree with me when I say the farm house can be made as convenient as any city home and at a much less expense of upkeep. Come to "The Manx" and see how simple convenient these appliances make the so-called drudgery of farm life.—From the Report of the Wisconsin Country Life Conference*