Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-06-20
The Toilet Of Farmers.


When the farmer gets out his ma
chinery-his mower and reaper and
hay tedder-the first thing he does is to
wipe 1t thoroughly clean. to remove all
dust that may have settled into sthe
mechanism, all oil that may have
gummed on it. Perhaps he washes it
with Kerosene to make sure that every
thing Is clean. Then when he is salts
ned that every part is clean and sound
and in good order. he oils it we'll, and
sets IT up ready for work. This process
IS repeated every time he uses his
mower, for he knows that the old oil is
more or less filed with worn particles
OF iron and steel and acts as file 70
wear out the parts it rubs against.
But many a farmer is better to his
mower than he is to himself. He will
work all day in the hot sun, with per-
splration streaming from every pore,
and he will be at night covered from
head TO foot with q thin coating of
etfete matter. This, If not removed.
the abSorbents take right up again and
carry back into the body, clogging it's
delicate machinery and acting exactly
as old gummy oil does on the mower
If he wears all night the clothes he has
worn during the day, portion of the
etfete matter they contain will be. taken
into the BODY.
Unless farmer knows by theory and
experiment, too. that bathing and
changing his clothes is the surest and
quickest way of resting and refreshing
him, 1t is hard to get him to 90 any
thing else but sit down in the nearest
chair, or lie down on the nearest lounge
and rest when he comes in from work
ing all day in the field. 1t will be nec1
eSsarv, therefore, for farmers wives
who wish fresh evening toilets to be
made by their husbands, TO have evcrt-
thing arranged with exceeding conven-
fence for this purpose. A bath room
may be improvised on the first floor,
the nearer the back door the better,
and in this abundance of facility pro
vided for the evening bath and toilet
Here the working clothes may be hung
up at night, and here the evening clothes
hang during the day. Plenty of soap,
water. towels. bathing tubs, should be
provided for all who need them, for
hired men and children. A corner of
the wsod shed makes nice summer
bath house for working man, since a
dozen bricks or a few dressed boards
Ia d down may keep the feet from the
bare ground, and here one needn't be
afraid to make a slop on the floor. A
few yards of unbleached muslin will
make n screen.
Patterns for dressing gowns, blouses
and Overalls are to be found in the pat
tern books, and with the aid of these,
most any farmer vie can provide an
easy evening dress for her husband and
a suitable dress for work in the day
time. Slippers of leather are better for
farmers than those of cloth, since there
will be times when they will be obliged
to be in the dew more or less, and on
the damp ground.
Working men, not farmers, who live
in houses not provided with that luxury,
bath room, may make one for them
selves in corner of the yard. which
will answer every purpose during the
summer time and be free from the dan.
gers haunting most bath rooms in our
city houses. Cleanliness is next to
goodness. The quicker we get rid of
our dead selves the more vital we are,
the more we respect ourselves, the more
we are respected. Dirt and virtue do
not abide together in any close union.
Bathing just before and just after eat
ing should be avoided, as the stomach
needs the blood for the digestion of
food, and bathing brings it to the sur
face. If the worker bathes when he
first comes in from the field Gn tepid
water if he is very warIn). and then
dresses slowly and rests few minutes.
he can eat without inconvenience and
be all ready for bed when his supper is
digested.
As to material and quality, what one
can afford is n good rule to 60 by. Poor
material is always expensive, while
good material gives satisfaction while a
thread of 1t remains. N \. Tribune.