The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-13
MORE LIGHT FOR THE
SHORT DAYS ON FARM

Farming is supposed to be a sun-time
business, an occupation that is carried
on according to the amount of daylight
available. Witness the recent alteration
over the matter of daylight saving. And
of course it is true that the farmer is
dependent to y-eat extent upon daylight
for the completion of his field work.
During the busy season he must be in
the fields at daybreak and must stay
there until dark if he is to get the neces-
sary amount of work done. Before and
after these field hours he must feed and
water the stock and do lot of other
work at the barn and house. Both sum
mer and winter he is pretty likely to do
these chores before daylight and after
dark
In the house the situation is somewhat
different. There, in summer time, COM
paratively little light is needed, but when
winter comes with its shor, DAYS and
long, still evenings, the whole farm fam
lily becomes interested in the matter of
good light.
1t is rather strange thing that with
tremendous improvement along every
other line of agricultural activity the
provision of good modern lighting sys-
TENS should have been so long in coming
Until the last three or four years the
great majority of farm homes stl1 got
along with the old kerosene lantern for
farm and yard work, and with the lamp
for the house.
In the house these lamps were not very
satisfactory at best. Cleaning and filing
them took a lot of someone's time and,
unless there were a number of them used
| il was usually matter of those nearest
| the lamp getting the light and of those
farther away getting along without Il,
| There had to he lamps to carry upstairs
at bedtime, too, one for each room. And
these meant more cleaning and filling,
considerable inconvenience and an ever
present fire hazard. To be sure they We're
lot better than the candles and tallow
dips of the generation BEFORE but they
| left a lot to be desired, too.
| In the barn it was more serious mat
| ter A lantern was the poorest kind
of makeshift Large open passageways
and open lofts without any papered walls
to reflect the light made the lantern a
mere point of light, most of whose rays
seemed to be lost Immediately in the
darkness 1t was case of holding the
| lantern close to the work in hand In
| order to be able to see at ALL The Ian
| tern had to be picked up and carried from
| Job to Job and this made man one
| handed and consumed a lot of extra
| time Finally in the barn the fire hazart
was UNNECESSARILY greater than in the
/ house. A lantern balanced unstably OF
the straw covered floor had an excellent
chance of being upset. And once turned
over, the burning liquid kerosene hat
every chance for destruction.
| What difference there is now in many
country homes. Instead of the coal OF
| lamp lighting just the center of the liv
ing room. carried from room to room
when light is needed and cleaned anC
filed every day, we find handsome cleo
trio fixtures. On the living room tabl'
is reading lamp with a shade tina
softens the bright rays of the electric
bulbs, but allows them to reach the far
these corners of the room. Bracket light
on the walls and special lamp on The
piano give plenty of extra light whenever
| it is needed. Simpler but just as eff
fective fixtures are in all the othe
rooms of the house. upstairs as well a
down, in the Railways and basement ant
on the porches. Hall lights can be turned
on from upstairs or down, and porct
lights are controlled from inside tn
house.
In the barn the old lantern is know
no more. Electric lamps are struni
wherever they will do the most good ant
the switches are conveniently located. M
more carrying lanterns or worrying
about fire.
I Even in the yard we find electric light
On top of a pole in the center of thu
yard is a powerful lamp under re
| Hector and when this is turned on thu
whole premises are flooded with a ligh
that reveals every object and that makes
! it an uncomfortable place for chicken
! thieves and other night prowlers This
yard light is controlled either from thu
house or the barn.
! The farm of TODAY is eniOyinQ lust a,
complete electric services as the cit,
home, because electricity on the farm at
| fords power as well as light. Pumps
washing machines separators. churn
and wide variety of other light power
appliances are run today with small cleo
trio motors at great saving of boti
| time and labor.
| All this service is developed right OF
the farm by small electric plant, con
sising of a generating unit and set o
storage batteries. And so great has beer
| the development of these farm electric
plants in the last few years that toda,
| they are much more easily taken care o
than the average farm implement. Thel
incorporate the best features of mechan
| ical and electrical design. We hear o
| Observation-Disclosures engines" which WI
recognize as a feature of the best au
] tomobile engine design and to this have
been added "air-cooled' and kerosene
| burning" features toward which auto
mobile engineers are still striving, bu
which the peculiar nature of the farm
electric plant makes practical for it's us'
| today
| With the coming of the short days thii
year we find greatly increased nunbe
of farm homes enjoying the advantage
of electric light and power. and reports
! from the dealers in farm electric supplies
| indicate that country people are turning
toward the modern servant, electricity
more rapidly every day