Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-07-11
The Cost of Inconvenience.

| The Cost of Inconvenience.
The most expensive item upon the
farm ia "inconvenience." 1t seems to
be born in some men to have things
arranged as inconveniently and awkward
" as possible. Even If 1t is cheaper 10
have them handy and convenient, such
men will 60 to extra expense and trouble
to make life and work about the place
unpleasant
1t never seems to occur to such men
that inconvenience consumes time and
that time is money. The excuses given
for having things so unhandy that they
are almost useless are many, and in most
cases they are very trivial. Ia going
about from farm to farm | have noticed
many items of "inconvenience" that
could we'll be dispensed with and that
are causing the farmers to whom they
belong great loss.
One of these items is the tall, long
handled iron pump, the one that KICKS
Jerks, squeaks, groaus and gives down
sparingly and grudgingly. The long
handle describes sweep that Is all out
of proportion to the stroke of the piston
rod. A handle of half the length and
weight would do the work better ami
with oue-haf the effort on the part Of
the woman OF child that uses the pump
far more than does the master OF the
place. But the pump that is such
dread to the women and children must
remain and be burden to the entire
household until it is worn out.
A pump is an article that must be used
many times every day. Why consume
time and energy in operating an aggra-
waiting nuisance when 1t could be az
easily replaced by one that would do its
work in less time and with less labor?
Those old long handled pumps, standing
way up in the air and working to such
great disadvantage that time is lost and
temper is tried, have cost many doc
tors bill and made many an invalid.
Yet, their squeak is heard in the land,
and will be, | suppose, until the mlllen-
mum.
And then there is that heavy, awk-
ward gate, that cannot be lifted without
the use of both hands, and that strains
the women and children, who must open
and close it every day. One could have
seen when it was being built that 1t
would sag. One could have seen as 1t
was being erected that such hanging
was inadequate. The posts we're not
we'll set, the hinges are not good and the
fastening is defective. II the farmer
would reckon up the time lost by him
self and his hired man in setting down
their burdens to open such gates be
would be surprised. 1t would cost no
more to make good gates, to have good
posts, to set those posts properly and to
hang the gate properly upon good hang
ings than it does to make gates that are
80 annoying to those who have to use
them.
But the excuses given for using such
gate and for torturing others by forcing
them to use it are quite as trivial as
those given for continuing to use the
abominable old pumps. I should neg
lect my duty If did not condemn the
use of hemlock in the construction OF
gates. 1t may be amusing to some men
to see the hired man or even the wife
and children lacerate their hands upon
a rough old hemlock gate, but some day
there will be reckoning. As result
of bis indifference to the convenience
and comfort of others he may have to
deal with a painful and expensive case
of blood poisoning. He himself may be
the victim. l myself have been called
to treat several such cases, and have
seen many other injuries that were
caused by gates that "don't work very
we'll" The neglect of such details as
am mentioning seems cruel to me. Yet
there are those who int1ict upon Others
the pains and burdens of their almost
criminal careleSsness.
The other day called so-called car
penter to repair door-that Is to trim
it is little 80 that it would open and
close without an extra effort and with
out jarring the whole house. When l
returned after a'short absence he told
me the job was done, and, sure enough,
it was, but instead of taking down the
door and using plane upon its edge he
had hacked away the upper part of the
threshold. l asked him why he did not
trim the door as employed him to do,
and his reply was: "Wal, doc you
may want to use that door somewhere
else some time, and so thought you
had better cut out the doorway at the
bottom" Many farmers reason about
as did this carpenter. They want the
name of being economical, and care not
how many dollars they lose so long as
they save a penny.
At half the farms that visit the barn
doors are out of repair. They refuse to
open or to shut. 1t takes time and
strength to operate them, and in some
cases there is a secret lift to them that
requires knowledge of their individual
ity. 1t is not uncommon to hear some
farmer say: "Hold on there, doc that
gate don't work easy. have to block
it up. Wait and I'll show you how 1t
goes"
And there are doors and gates that are
set to open the wrong way. Perhaps in
some case two gates open against each
other. Maybe they open out into the
lane or alley. In some cases 1t is quite
trick to get through them, and the use
of them makes one think of the old days
of the canal boat.
Many houses are constructed without
any regard to real convenience. Often
the windows of bedroom are placed so
that the bed has to be set In front OF
one of them. In some instances the
bedroom door opens against the bed or
into the center of the room. All OF
these faults could be avoided by the
exercise of little common sense.
For every Inconvenience some one suf-
fers. For every poor pump, every bad
ly hung gate and every i'll placed or Ill
fitting door upon the farm the farmer
must eventually pay, and pay dearly
Richard H. Wood, NJ. D., in Tribune
Farmer.
Orchard Spraying Experiments.