Arizona republican., 1908-10-18
FOR THE COMFORT
 OF THE FARMER
MT. T. ]. Norton Writes of the Need. less Poverty of His Life.

for September, was given out by President Roosevelt, to whom it was addressed and who gave it his hearty endorsement. It is of local interest by reason of Mir. NortOns long con nection with the s. F. P. & P rail- way and his extensive acquaintance in this territory:
 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
 Railway System
 Railway Exchange, Chicago
 August 22, 1908. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, oyster Bay.
 l.. L. N. Y:
 My Dear Mir. President-Nothing that has appeared in print for long time has given me more satisfaction than your letter purposing to do something toward providing creature comforts for the farmer. now that so much has been accomplished for him as a mere grower and producer. As one who spent his boyhood and part of his youth on a farm, I have for many years looked back upon the needless poverty of social, mental and comfortable life as one of the things most demanding attention. In the midst of everything that should make life cheerful and satisfactory. the average farmer has relatively nothing. like the mariner who had water everywhere without a drop to drink Having available the best meats, the freshest vegetables and fruits, the most wholesome milk, eggs. butter and poultry, he yet has the poorest table in the world; so that I was not surprised a couple of years ago on discovering at one of the great sanitariums of this country, where disorders of digestion receive special attention, that the greater number of the nine hundred patrons came from the country. With the everlasting fresh air, which We in the city take hard journeys to enjoy, he usually sleeps in a small room with practi- cally no ventilation, when a very lit- tie outlay and ingenuity would pro- vide sleeping accommodations for the family which would add years to life not only. but also give that strength which one has said quite correctly that there Is no place where good air is so scarce as it is in the country With piles of chaff which he has to burn to get 1t out Of the way, the very best preservative of ice, he never thinks during winter to cover up a few tons of ice with which to reduce if not altogether remove the miserable situation of his family dur ing the heated months. With a wind mill pumping water for his live stock and running 1t to waste, he has no conveniences for bathing, and, in fact knows nothing about the tonic and the optimism afforded by a bath. If. after a long days work. he could come in and take a thorough soaping off under a shower. even in the cor ner of the barn or the granary, and then put on a suit of dry clothing, no matter how cheap SO it Is a change, he would look with different eyes upon his situation and upon everything around him, and he would ROt be contributing money for the campaigns Of demagOgues and dis turbers Instead of this, however he sits down to his supper when he is too tired to eat. and in a condition of fatigue which denies digestion; and. 10 make a bad matter worse. he goes to a table hastily prepared and usually uninviting. which is partly owing to q hOrt-sighted frugality which never allows sufficient help in the house to do what should be done as it should be done. For he does not realize that the meal is next to a sacred ceremonial, and that nothing should be spared in the preparing and the serving of it.
 It is to be conceded to him that in ha fs. tx his condition-he is having driving horses and vehicles for his children, and he is buying pianos and doing other things. But the foundation trouble is that most of this is done in a crude way because there is nobody to show him how. And all our progress in this regard has come from association in the cities and from being shown how. The isolation of the farmer prevents him from observ- ing what is sometimes open to view in the city to the very poorest per sons, and therefore his progress is slower. He is not to be censured for the state in which we find him. although he deserves a scolding for great deal of indifference and in dolence. What we call the comforts of life are very modern. The cheap apartments of a wOrkingman in the city today have comforts and con veniences which royalty did not en- joy only a little while ago
 I have written thus at length to show that. as a person fully experi enced in farm life, 1 believe that you put your finger on the quivering spot of a great human matter-that ta1e farmer needs to be shown by somebody who has seen, and that the well being of others and the good of the state require that he be taught. l write also because I have observed in the newspapers some disposition to jest at the proposal; but if carried out it would destroy much discontent in this country.
 I have always blamed the farm journals for not doing something positive and effective in this direc- tion. They might show by illustrated articles how outdoor sleeping apart ments could be fitted up at little ex- pense, how good bath could be in stalled almost anywhere and the i'm pOrtance of its daily use how the table could be made the altar of the household deities, how the narrow home could in many ways be widened and the library made better, and va ried entertainments provided.
 As I have had pronounced views