Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-10-28
THE FARMER OF TODAY AND
ms MANY LUxuRIEs'

LanJ pofttOu VI wi PSfN'-'
their increased incomes are doing
them more harm than good. and that
their families are departing from the
habits Of thrift, economy and the
simple life that have characterized
the tilIers Of the soil since the begin
ming OF time. It Is doubtless true that
the farmhouses, particularly in the
West, are now provided with more
comforts, convenience and Injuries
than the richest Of them could afford
a few years ago, and It Is true that
the farmers sons and daughters are
buying better clothing and are SPEND
ing more money for trifles than ever
was known before. The farmer him
self is buying better stock, better
machinery and implements, better
vehicles and It is common nowadays
to see him come in town Saturday
afternoons with his family in an auto.
mobile which costs ; 500 or $4,000
and even more.
An automobile dealer in a town'
Of about 5000 inhabitants in Oregon
told me. last month that he had sold
forty-two machines to farmers in that
vicinity within the thirty days pre-
vious and that he expected to sell as
many more before snow flies. An
other dealer in another place told
me that he was selling all the ma
chimes he could deliver: that he had
orders at the factory that could not
be filled tillNnext spring, and he was
afraid that his customers would buy
other machines in the meantime. be-
cause they were impatient to shoot
the air." as he described It.
Gas soon as gets his crop
in, that scornful person remarked,
che wants to go around in buzz
wagon spending his money.
mot long ago the highest ambition
of farmer was to own a pair Of thor
oughbred horses and drive them to
piano box buggy and haul his
family to town in a surrey" COP
tinued the garage man. "but nova
days no horse is good enough or
fast enough for him, and most auto
mobiles are too slow"
There is doubtless great deal OF
truth in those observations. Anyone
who attends a state or county fair
out West nowadays or horse show
will see quite as many automobiles
as carriages, and they are driven by
men who would have been satisfied
with a good roadster and a buggy
a few years ago. You see automobiles
standing ia front Of the stores In
every village; you meet them on the
road, everywhere in the West, parti'
cularIy Saturday afternoon and Sun
day but the larger number are moi
expensive machines, They are mostl,
| lightweight. low-power patterns o.
| last year, made especially for country
| roads and sold at low prices. Some
| of them are Iiigh-geared so as to pas
over roads which are cut deep Will
rut sbv heavy wagons. There arr
many $500 and $3.50 machines SOLD
| throughout the western countr!
which answer the requirements OF thu
| farmers families as well as tourini
car worth 5000. But many farmer
insist upon having the best machines
they can get. and you pass them upoK
the road every day.
l While It may be considered extra
VACANT for farmer to buy an auto
mobile, he has earned the money ant
deserves the satisfaction. and so lonl
as a man viii get up in the morning q
1 s o'clock and milk half dozen cow
before breakfast and repeat the per
Torrance every evening after suppe
by the light Of a lantern he is no
in much danger of a farmer losing hi
head and becoming a spendthrif
when he is compelled to ern hi
automobile and other Injuries b.
the sweat of his brow. It is SO diff
cult to obtain farm labor OF an
kind at any wages in nearly ever!
part Of the country that the owne
of the land is compelled TO work
himself or let It lie fallow. Thi
fact accounts for so many "one-crol
farms" which require attention onl'
portion Of the year-during tn
summer months-and can be aband
oned for more agreeable surrounding
after the harvest.
The Introduction Of automobiles
tnke the telephone. :, the. rural deliver,