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The Alamance Gleaner | 'vol. lxi. - _ graham, n. c., thursday october 3, 1935. no. 35. Electricity for a Million Far ms Shown in the inset is Morris L. Cooke, director of the new Rural Electrification authority, and around him are illus trated some of the tasks REA hopes electricity will soon be doing on a million more farms?"mothering" chicks, lighten ing household work and filling silos. By WILLIAM C. UTLEY Electric light for a million farm homes. A whole new set of hired nands who never get tired and who work for very little wages for each of these farms. Emancipation from backbreaklng tasks for a million farmers' wives. These are the ambitions of the new ly formed rural electrification author ity which has been created by the fed eral government to extend to farms throughout the nation the benefits which are being enjoyed by only 734, 000 out 6,000,000 of them today. But the ambitions, of they are real ized, will have consequences reaching far beyond their own limits. For bring ing electric power to a million farms will create thousands of jobs in city factories. Manufacturers of light bulbs, washing machines, refrigerators, irons, radios and other appliances will have to keep their factories humming to keep pace with the demands of Mrs. Farmer. And Mr. Farmer will want motors, milking machines, cream sep arators and other electrical "hired hands." Before either of these de mands can be satisfied lines will have to be built and wiring completed. Farmers will be able to buy these appliances, for the government has ex tended the Electric Home and Farm authority to a national scope. The EHFA has enabled farmers in the Tennessee valley to buy appliances on easy payments financed by the Recon struction Finance corporation. The government, under rhls scheme, arranges for manufacturers to sell standard quality equipment to con sumers at low prices. The purchaser has to make a cash down payment, but the EMFA remits the remainder of the cost to the dealer in cash. Appliances may be purchased from recognized dealers in any communities where the power company co-operates by reduc ing prices for current. What charges remain after the down payment are spread out over three or four years and are added each month to the cus tomer's bills for electricity. The pay ments are turned over to the EHFA as they are made. $100,000,000 for Jobs. The Rural Electrification authority, under the direction of Morris L. Cooke, has been assigned $100,000,000 to use in the next year or two. Even a vast sum like that would not go very far if it were used in constructing lines to farms which are now a comparatively long way from the lines of any power company or municipal plant. But there are some 5.000.000 farms in America today which are without electricity. In Its compaign to elec trify 1.000.000 farms, the REA, accord ing to director Cooke, will attempt to bring service only to those in areas where no new generating plants will he necessary, where lines can be built economically from a source of power which already is working. The REA, however, will not even in vestigate the applications of farms where there is service in the Immedi ate neighborhood. It will be Interested in projects where new sectional lines can be built to electrify whole farm areas, hot not where s mere extension ?f an already existing line Is asked by a fanner who lives close to IL Such cases as these it will leave for the local power company to develop. As an example of a case that is eligible to get REA help, take that of a group of neighboring farmers who want electric service. There is a plant in a city a few miles away, but the power company has refused to build lines out to them for the very good reason that the potential business does not seem to warrant it. Power com panies, despite the feelings of cranks and unreasoning people, are not in business "for their health." Feeling that this is a fair attitude of the company, the farmers, who want electricity and are willing to pay for it, band themselves together in a little co-operative group, go to the company officials and offer to buy power to be delivered at the nearest point on the company lines. Here's One Difficulty. The farmers themselves will build lines to their farms. To finance the construction they will borrow the money from the REA, who, theoretical ly, investigates the group from every angle to make sure that the loan Is a sound one. "There is nothing very complicated about this," says Mr. Cooke. "It is not like launching a great new power project Involving millions. This whole operation will not exceed $20,000." Ah, but only part of the story has been told. The REA plans for these co-operative groups suggest that, the farmers shall buy power from the com pany at wholesale rates, to be fixed by negotiation or by the state's pub lic service commission. This does nor "set" very well with many of the util ity companies who have farm cus tomers. Why not? is the natural question, glancing at the case only superficially. These farmers who are co-operating have paid for the installation of the line; are they not entitled to some sort of extra consideration for what they have done? It so happens that the other farmers who are already receiving current from the same power company at re tail rates will, In effect, have paid for their lines, too. Why shouldn't they get wholesale rates? Actually, they have not, or have paid only in part Here is the way it works, although this must be token as a hypothetical case, for all power companies do' not have the same agreements with their farm customers. Who Pays for the Line? Let us sav that the cost of a line built out to a farm is SSOO. The farm er, supplied for the sake of example by a middle western utility company which has been outstanding for its rural electrification work, is given 80 months in which to pay for the cost of the line. Ue "pays" for It by guaran teeing to use a monthly minimum of electricity equal in cost to one-eightieth of the cost of the line, which In this case would be $10, until the 80 months are up. If he actually uses less than $10 worth Of "Juice" during a month, his bill is $10 Just the same. But he Is en titled to all of the benefits every month that $10 worth of electricity will bring to him, so he might Just as well use it J up. It's like going to a metropolitan theater restaurant where there Is a minimum charge of $2.50 a head; you can eat Just a sandwich If you want to, but your bill Is $2.50 just the same; If you're hungry, you might as well eat a full dinner, for It Isn't going to cost you any more. And farmers today are really hungry for the benefits of elec tric power to ease their daily tasks. "If you take away my electricity, you can just take the farm, too," Is the way Farmer Gus Swanson, of Fountain county, Indiana, puts It Actually, a farmer buying power from a utility company on such an agreement Is paying for the cost of his line only If be falls to use $10 worth of electricity each month. If his bill Is $10, he gets back dollar for dollar In electric power. But If such a customer has a cousin or a friend over in the next county who is a member of one of the REA co-operative groups and Is getting pow er at a lower rate, power company officials would have about as much chance explaining the reason for that to him as they would hare of making him under stand the Einstein theory. He would insist that he was paying for his line as surely as his cousin, only in a different way. The Women Want It. This, then, is one of the obstacles that confront the REA ambitions. Tbey are ambitions, however, that are worth struggling to attain. Ask any farmer's wife. The worker In the city puts In 40 hours of labor every week; she works 04 hours. If she has a large family she probably works longer than that If she has a small baby, she works even longer. He gets paid; she doesn't. If she hasn't electricity to assist her she has to do everything the hard way?the tiring way that puts lines In her face long before she should have them. Yet housework Isn't all she has to do. About 20 per cent of her time Is taken up with actual farm work. Eighty-nine out of a hundred farm wives manage the hen houses. Sixty six out of a hundred make butter. Da you think their lives wouldn't be "heaven" if they only had vacuum cleaners, washing roovhines. electric ironers. and?the possession usually dearest to the heart of an "electrified" farm housewife?electric refrigerators: In the state of Wisconsin It has been found that the farmer spends an aver age of $230 a year on his passenger automobile. In a census of more than half the farms of the country five years ago It was found that, on the farms counted, there were 1.13 passen ger automobiles per farm. That would indicate that the farmer Is able to pay for modern comforts if he wants them badly enough. It must be re membered that these were passenger cars, not farm trucks. The REA wonders why. If there are cars on 2,030.000 farms, It can't put electricity on a large share of them. It has been said that the average farm Income is $100 a year. But the REA will of necessity not be looking to electrify the average farm, but the one that Is above average, for It is the above-average farm, as a rule, that Is located near power service. C Western New?p?p?r Union. Weather Station for Airliners to Antipodes 1?: 'r IN THIS photograph the United States coast guard cutter Utasca, sta * tloued at Honolulu, Is shown off Jarvis Island, where the Aviation Bu reau of the United States Department of Commerce Is erecting a mete- , orologlcal research station for the purpose of making weather records for future airlines to the Antipodes. This Is the first time the United States flag has flown on Jarvis Island since 1880. . . Bedtime Story for Children By THORNTON W. BURGESS LIGHTFOOT BECOMES UNCERTAIN T IGHTFOOT the Deer traveled on through the Green Forest straight ahead In the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were blowing. Every few steps he would raise his delicate nose and test all the scents that the Merry Little Breezes were bringing. As long as he kept the Merry Little Breezes blowing In his face he could be sure whether or not there was danger ahead of him. You see, the Merry Little Breezes delight in carry ing all sorts of scents, and Lightfoot's nose Is so wonderful that even though those scents be very, very faint he can catch them and tell just what they are. Lightfoot uses his nose very much as you and I use our eyes. It tells him the things he wants to know. He knew that Reddy Fox had been along ahead of him although he didn't get so much as a glimpse of Reddy's red coat. Once he caught just the faintest of scents which caused him to stop abruptly and test the air more carefully than ever. It was the scent of Buster Bear. It was so very faint that Lightfoot knew Buster was not near, so he went ahead , again, but even more carefully than before. After a little he couldn't smell Buster at all so be know then that Buster had simply passed that way go ing to some other part of the Green Forest [ So Lightfoot knew that he had noth ing to fear Id that direction so long as the Merry Little Breezes brought him none of the dreaded man-scent, and be knew that he could trust the Merry Little Breezes to bring him that scent If there should be a man any where in that direction. The Merry Little Breezes are Lightfoot's best friends. But Lightfoot didn't want to keep goiDg In that direction all day. It would take him far away from that part of the Green Forest with which he was familiar and which he called home. It might In time take him out of the Green Forest, and that wouldn't do at all. So after a while Llghtfoot became uncertain. He didn't know Just what to do. Vou see, he couldn't tell wheth er or not that hunter with the terrible gun was still following him. Every once In a while he would stop In a thicket of young trees or behind a tangle of fallen trees uprooted by the wind. There he would stand facing the direction from which he had come and watch and listen for some sign that the hunter was still following. But after a few minutes of this he would grow uneasy and then bound away In the direction from which the Merry Lit tle Breezes were blowing so as to be sure of not running Into danger. "If only I could know If tbat hunter is still following I would know better what to do," thought Llghtfoot. "I've got to And out." ? T. W. Burgess.?WNU Service. BURNING LEAVES By ANNE CAMPBELL IX SEEMS as If the whole lost sum mer grieves When we are burning leaves, So melancholy Is the smoky scent Of this fall sacrament. It was a few short weeks ago they hung In lively green, and flung Their shade upon the heedless passers by. ! And challenged the blue sky. Now In a wooden basket, drab and brown, They are pulled down; I They who In such high place were sblmmering Since early spring. There is In burning leaves a sense of I loss, As In we toss The match, and watch them perish In a breath. . . . This, then, Is Death! Copyright.?WN*U Service. igSSpP' Dear Mr. YYynn: I am a woman forty-three years of age and the only offer of marriage I hare ever had was last night. I met a fellow at a party and he was drunk. He proposed marriage to me. He seems all right but I told him to sober up and then ask me to marry him. Did I do right? Sincerely, L M. HOMELY. Answer: Yes and no. He may not want you when he's sober. Dear Mr. Wynn: My wife fights with me all the time because I won't get my hair cut I claim It looks good, but she says It Is too long. Do you think I should have it cut short? Tours truly, BOB BURR. Answer: The only trouble with a man having his lialr cut short is that he Is often mistaken for his wife. Dear Mr. Wynn: Do chestnuts have legs? Yours truly, L M. WORRIED. Answer: No, my dear friend, chest nuts do not have legs. You must have swallowed a worm. Dear Mr. Wynn: I am a cook In a prlv .te home. There are no marks on the faucets In the kitchen to show the hot water and cold water I have scalded my fingers nearly every day. What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Yours truly, L M. DUMB. Answer: Just feel the water first. Dear Mr. Wynn: I am Interested In the "Little Thea tre Movement." I have Interested some rich men and they are bnlldlng a very odd theater. There will be no rows of seats, only boxes. In other words ev ery person who comes to see ou. .plays gyon Know? That brunette babies are the bravest when being baptized? According to Rev. Dr. Short, for 35 years a Methodist minister, blond babies howl, brunettes smile, baldheaded ones look blank while it is usually the fat ones who cry the most. ? McC'lure Newspaper Syndicate. WNU Service. Hat and Haiter Hat and halter to match Is a new fashion whim. This hat is made of suede cloth in sherwood green ^ith a rust colored bandeau and sash. The long tassels are dark green. will be in a box. Can you suggest a fitting name for onr odd theater? Truly yours, OPPEB E. HOOSE. Answer: As the "Little Theatre Movement" Is popular, and as you have no rows of seats, and as you will prob ably do a big business, and pack the boxes, why not call It "The Sardine"? ? Associated Newspaoers.?WNT Serrics. ?> MOTHER'S * COOK BOOK ? UNUSUAL DISHES WE AI.L like to serve occasionally something 9 bit different and out of the ordinary, but for the dally diet the common foods simply served we enjoy the best. Golden Coconut Shortcake. Allow two slices of sponge cake for each serving. Prepare orange sauce by using one cup of orange Juice thickened with corn starch, adding a bit of sugar and butter. Cover each slice of the cake with the sauce In sandwich fashion, cover with thinly sMced oranges and top with freshly grated and sweetened coconut Maple Junket Dissolve one Junket tablet In a table spoon of cold water, add to a pint of lukewarm milk a little almond flavor ing and a halt cup of maple sirup. Serve with the top of the sherbet glasses sprinkled with grated maple sugar or sprinkle with finely shredded almonds. Stuffed Tomato Salad. Scoop out the centers of six ripe even sized tomatoes. Chop the cen ters and add one cup of cooked rice, four tablespoons of cheese grated, one hard cooked egg, two tablespoons of pimiento and one small onion, all minced; season with salt, a little lemon Juice and any other desired sea soning. Fill the tomato cups and chill. Serve on lettuce with salad dressing. Pot of Cold Dessert. Mix one-half cup of sugar with one fourth cup of cornstarch, add a bit of salt and a cupful of rich milk, one cup of orange juice and when cooked until smooth and thick In a double boiler add two tablespoons of butter and the well beaten yolks of two eggs. Let cook until smooth. Serve molded in Individual molds, with whipped cream. Small slim pickles may be cut into very thin slices, without cutting way to the stem end of the pickle, then spread out the slices In the form of a fan and use as garnish for sand wiches or the sandwich plate. ? Western Newspaper Union. First Copper House Is Completed THIS copper house has Just been erected at Betbesda, Md? by a subsidiary of one of the big copper corporations and Is open to the public for inspec j lion. The new dwelling Is the first of Its kind In this country. Hardwood floors are built orer a fire-proof sub-floor, and Inside walls are plastered on metal laths. The house Is completely alr-cooditloned. The cost of these houses de pends on size and design, with present designs ranging upwards from $4,9001 7" Minute make-ups = By V. V. i I V ? The beauty of your face and the smart appearance of your clothes de pend tt?is season on your carriage. To obtain a regal bearing, practice walk ing with a book balanced on your head, shoulders thrown bark so far that you may book your elbows through a broom handle. A stately stature will have much to do with smartness of any costume and the effectiveness of coif fure and make-up. Copyright b* Public Ledger, tnc. WNU Service. EAt>A KNCWS-I l 1 1 'Pop, what Is a gesture?" "Political feeler." e Bell 8radicate.?WNC Service
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Oct. 3, 1935, edition 1
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