Personal Sovereignty

Welcome to the land of the happy slaves! – Phoebe

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I removed the link because it is no longer a valid link. – Phoebe

Sovereignty is inherent in the individual human being,it is the
manifested condition and resulting process that is embodied in the
free will and is the foundation and entirety of Natural Human Rights natural rights.

The self evident truth is that a human
being owns oneself, that the individual can think for oneself, make
choices, take responsibility for those choices and in all ways control
one’s actions in a rational manner. Individual sovereignty is the
right and the ability to govern one’s actions independently and to
govern one’s interactions in concert with others. It is the origin of
government, as a self-governing sovereign must learn to govern one’s
behavior in relation to the external environment and society.

As a sovereign the individual has the right and ability to
control those associations into which one chooses to enter. All free
governments are founded on the consent and authority of the individual
and instituted for the individual’s own peace, safety, happiness and
protection of property. The individual may create or join into any
form of government that one chooses through associations that are
entered into by all persons voluntarily. For the advancement of these
ends, they have at all times an inalienable right to alter, reform or
abolish their government in such manner as they may deem proper. It
is, after all, their government, it is not an institution to which
they are subject, it is their own governance in relation to one
another, the terms, laws, contracts, etc. under which they choose to
live and do business.

The idea of individual sovereignty is that the individual is supreme,
that no one may organize any group, government or entity that usurps
the supremacy of the individual to have sovereignty over one’s own
life, body, mind, property and associations. And, when anyone joins
together with you in any association, business, government or other
entity it must be by mutual consent among individual sovereigns. All
rights belong only to individual people, states and governments don’t
have any rights, an institution doesn’t have a free will, it can’t
make independent decisions or control its own actions, it is merely a
structure of offices and technology used by individuals. Institutions
only have authorities or powers given to them by the people.
Sovereignty is an ideal based on the free will of the human being,
since only the individual person has a heart and mind and soul to make
choices by one’s own free will, then only the individual person has
sovereignty.

The political-state is an organization, an institution, a
procedure–tools, institutions and procedures don’t have sovereignty.
In the past only the Monarch claimed to be the sovereign. That was
replaced by nation-states claiming sovereignty over the lives of their
subjects. Then, in the United States arose the idea of popular
sovereignty, which means mob rule, because throughout U.S. history
those in power have oppressed different groups. Popular sovereignty
doesn’t exist, it is a fraud, and impossibility, a mob can’t have
sovereignty, no more than can a political party or a dictator; only
the individuals who belong to the mob have sovereignty. To presume to
give rights to a mob to violate the sovereignty of individuals is the
very definition of criminality. Slavery and segregation of an entire
race was an example of popular sovereignty in the US, the idea that
the majority may do anything it wants against the minority, the
majority creates or amends the Constitution according to their
desires. The Constitution of a democratic state is just a license for
mob tyranny. The only real protection for the individual is in a
government that is entered into consensually, where everyone is
responsible for respecting each others’ sovereign rights.

When the individual has full control over one’s own life and the power
to to make free choices in all that one enters into, including the
form of government one chooses to live in, then the government will
become the servant and not the master.

There are two alternatives to the right of the Individual to own one’s
self. Either (A), a certain group of people (masters) own everyone
else (slaves), or (B), everyone has a right to own an equal share of
everyone else, therefor each person would own some 200 millionth part
of one’s self, possibly a small collection of cells in some undefined
part of one’s own body with the rest of one’s body being a slave to
the other 200 million people. Therefore one would also own a 200
millionth part of every other citizen. So you could in theory take
your piece of flesh out of every other person and trade it for the
pieces of flesh that are part of your own body but owned by society
and assemble your parts together into some theoretical creature which
you would then fully own. The idea that you are entitled to own a
piece of everyone else yet not entitled to own yourself is crazy, but
that is the presumption on which is built the democratic-socialist
state. This communistic ownership in everyone but yourself is just a
fool’s bargain whereby rule over all people is in reality exercised by
the few rulers and their controlling special interest groups, it is
they who claim to own everyone and dispose of everyone else’s minds
and bodies as suits their preferences. That’s the great lie of
communism that seeks to overturn the old world master-slave
relationship with a new communal ownership that in the end returns to
the same master-slave relationship, only with a new set of masters.

No one can represent your rights, rights are by definition an
intrinsic part of the human person, the idea of representative
government deciding what rights people should and shouldn’t have is
idiotic. The fools who accept such a concept deserve the kind of
government they get, but they can’t be allowed to perpetrate their
ignorance on other people.

Legitimate government is an organization of individual sovereigns and
is mutually exclusive of the presumed sovereignty of the state which
is completely counterfeit. Any government that exists is a creation
of individuals who have an opinion on how life’s activities should be
organized, the opinion of a large majority is no more superior to the
opinion of one individual; they are both equal in that they are both
merely opinions. The only opinion that counts is the choice that the
individual makes in the exercise of one’s rights, of which one must be
held completely accountable. The purpose of a free government is to
protect individual rights by people joining together by voluntary
consent; whereby each person is a self-governing entity who organizes
one’s activities with other people through a government of consensual
contracts. These contracts are the law that regulates the
interactions among the consenting members and enforces the terms to
which they have agreed. People who belong to different governments
must respect the sovereignties of other persons to different
governments. These governments must keep their jurisdiction strictly
to the individuals who choose to belong to them, and as individuals
must govern their own interactions, the people’s governments must
govern their interactions and disputes through treaties which assign
ways of settling those disputes. People who choose to live as
independent sovereigns must be respected in their rights and presumed
to be innocent and responsible in governing one’s self. They must
respect other’s governments and only if that person should trespass on
the rights of others would government powers be used to defend
innocent people from those transgressions. Among free and responsible
governments, there is no major conflict between political systems, all
legitimate governments which operate justly, do so to defend
individual freedom from the trespasses of others. So that if someone
should form a government that regularly violates anyone’s rights, the
other governments can join together to defend those innocent persons
and liberate them from that tyranny which will allow them to choose
their own government. It is imperative that individuals have
political self determination, because it is precisely the reason why
that individuals who are free to choose the kind of government under
which they will live, will always choose a government that respects
individual freedom.

Sovereigns are free agents who must choose their own government,
nationality, associations, career and way of life to suit their own
values; if no suitable institutions exist, you may create your own.
The form of government a person chooses is not so important as the
sovereign right to make that choice; it’s the respect for the freedom
of an individual to arrange one’s life, activities and interactions
with others according to one’s choice; that is supreme. To govern is
to control and direct the actions and behavior of something.
Political laws are the opinions of people enforced through an entity
who’s jurisdiction comes from the power the collective group of
individuals. Natural or universal law is quite another matter; one in
which each individual is free to govern one’s self and behavior as
long as one doesn’t infringe on the equal right of others to do the
same and the only just use of force is as a purely defensive action to
protect one’s self against the transgressions of others. As far as
any other laws go; people may make other laws to govern that over
which they have jurisdiction; since, in the end, an individual only
has jurisdiction over one’s own life, then the individual is the only
authority that can enact institutional law to govern that of which the
individual has control; specifically a person’s own property,
business, and associations that other people have volunteered to join.
The interpretation and governance of those laws can only be realized
and maintained by each sovereign individual, for who can in actuality
govern you, but you yourself. Governance with other sovereigns must
be accomplished through mutual contractual and treaty agreements.
Sovereign individuals must govern themselves by the authority of
self-ownership, that is, every human being, simply by being human, has
moral jurisdiction over one’s own mind, body and associations. This
jurisdiction, which is called individual sovereignty, is inviolable.
It is beneath personal dignity to beg for those rights which belong
inherently to oneself. I will not beg to some tyrannical bastards to
give me what they don’t have and aren’t capable of giving me, I will
not precipitate in a corrupt political system where I have to beg for
my rights or bribe corrupt politicians into giving me what I already
have. I will use whatever power and resources I have to defend all of
my rights completely, rights which are already mine and I will work to
create a world where I can exercise my rights more fully, and I will
do the same equally for all other people. To do unto others as I
would have them do unto me means that I will serve and support the
same equal rights for all other people to be free to exercise their
rights in their own way, this right is equal for everyone, though
people will choose to define and exercise their rights in different
ways just as I demand to exercise my own rights as I choose. I will
strive to create a world of equal opportunity so that all people may
exercise their freedom and rights fully and to their own satisfaction
defined in their own way and according to their own values which are
unique to each person equally respecting everyone’s right to their own
individual choices. Of course, the right to exercise one’s rights
depends on respecting other people’s rights and allowing them their
ability to exercise them. When someone violates the right of others
to exercise their rights then people through government must restrict
the guilty person’s exercise of rights only to the extent that is
necessary to protect the rights of others. But as people have the
inherent right to exercise one’s rights and are considered innocent
until proved guilty in a court of law, the right to fully exercise
one’s rights without restriction must always be respected, because
having rights means being able to exercise them. When people have
unlimited choices and unrestricted opportunity to exercise their
rights it means that they must implement self-government and take full
responsibility for their actions and be prepared to accept full
accountability for those actions.

Sovereignty means subject to no one.

Natural law is immutable, it never changes, it is based on individual
sovereignty and is therefor inviolable, it has always been true, those
natural rights come from simply being alive and being able to fully
control one’s decisions and actions. Since the creation of life
itself, all living things have been responsible for themselves, they
are what they are, this is the self-evident truth. Because humans are
rational beings with the free will to make independent decisions for
themselves and take responsibility for those choices, humans are self
governing sovereigns. Only among the Homo Sapiens species do
individuals organize political states to control nature and by doing
so pervert its understanding. Natural law has always been the same
and always will be the same, however, the political states are always
changing their definition of rights and their laws. The fact that
people interpret nature and law differently doesn’t change the
underlying truth, people may perceive the truth differently and
because that perception changes, doesn’t change the nature of the
truth. Each person must first secure one’s rights unto oneself and
exercise one’s freedom to fulfill one’s own dreams. Only by taking
total control of one’s own life can one hope to live as a free
sovereign who is solely responsible for one’s own life. And only by
realizing this can a person be responsible to others by not being a
burden on them or putting demands on others. Only by living in this
way can one learn to fully respect the freedom and rights of others
and not seek to take away or interfere in how others choose to
exercise their rights.

Individual sovereignty is above and independent of any fixed
territory.

The state is by definition incapable of extending itself politically
beyond its own borders, while the sovereign person is capable of
extending one’s experience to an unlimited degree. Each person is
free to be anything one wants, while the state is limited to what its
masters can control, a person can create whole new governments and
found new nations and invent new technologies, while the state can
never be anything more than just a mindless, soulless institution
dependent on the labors of its slaves. The sovereign individual then
enjoys infinite possibilities.

No one can give you your freedom or your rights. For, who can
exercise your rights for you? What entity can govern your behavior
but your own conscience? Who can realize your dreams but yourself?
Each Individual is absolutely and solely responsible for one’s own
thoughts and actions regarding one’s personal welfare and one’s
relations with others.

Individual sovereignty is not a license for all individuals to do
anything they want, it is not moral relativism and it is not anarchy
where each individual decides subjectively which rights of other
people one will respect and which laws one will obey and which will be
ignored, individual sovereignty is universal sovereignty of the
individual to live freely and not infringe upon the right of other
individuals to enjoy the same freedom, that is the law, that is what
is enforced and that is what all individuals are obligated to respect.
Individual sovereignty is the basis from which all rights are derived
and upon which all legitimate government is founded and it is the only
way that a truly good and just society may emerge.
- Gregory Flanagan

The New Fascists

The New Fascists

My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil’s best trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist!”
Charles Baudelaire, Le Joueur généreux, February 7, 1864

Forget everything you think you know about politics. It’s probably wrong.

There is no left or right. Communist, Socialist, Liberal, Conservative, Progressive, Democrat, Republican, those are all meaningless terms. They are used to confuse people so they miss the point. The most important point about politics there is. That there are only two schools of political thought and they have predictable results. All the names and labels for them are just smoke and mirrors.

Political ideology is designed by elites to trick the masses into doing what they want. Each side tells you something designed to get your emotions going so they can play you. They get you to agree to give them more power, money and control over your lives by telling you some kind of story.

We need to put that vicious cycle to an end. It’s time to understand what their real goals are. But to free your mind, you need to be educated first. Only by seeing the road ahead can you avoid tripping on stones or falling off cliffs.

There are only two real political choices to make. And it has nothing to do with parties. It has to do with core beliefs. You are for one side or another. These sides are diametrically opposed. The best way I can describe the two choices is, freedom or slavery. That is what it boils down to. And the slave in question is you.

Do you want to be a slave or a free person? It’s your choice.

I’m sure some of you reading this have your guard up now. So take a deep breath and walk with me for a second. I am going to open your eyes.
There are only two forms of government. Every kind of government is a branch or variation of one of the two forms. All the side issues, are just window dressing because the root form of government determines a lot of crucial matters that affect everything else.

The first form has many branches and is called by many names. It is common. It is the oldest form. It is, in fact, ancient. It has many names because so many of those names have fallen into disrepute. So they keep re-branding it and try to sell it in a different package. But no matter what name it takes, it still leads to the same end result.

The second form has very few branches and is rarer than any precious stone. It is something many people want but few have had. The believers in the first form are always trying to destroy this second form. They lie about it. Try to corrupt and subvert it. Because they know it will always be more popular with the people if they knew they had a choice. So the second form must always be defended from the predators of the first, because it is precious. I like to refer to each system as the minus and plus system. But we’ll call them BG or LG here. Big Government or Limited Government.

Those who believe in BG go by many names, and many of these believers don’t even know that they’re supporting the same goals as people they think are bad. But they have been tricked into selling out their own freedoms to enrich someone else’s. All BG systems lead to the same result. I classify this as a minus system because it’s negative. The end result of a BG system is bad for most involved.

The BG system is designed to feed all resources to a few at the top. All else are diminished in power and wealth. But the citizens are told that they must support the government and its rules in order to receive some kind of “benefits.” In order to get the treats the government doles out, you have to give up your freedoms and your property. It sells the idea of some glorious future that is never attained and only gets worse over time. But it always maintains that it will lead to some kind of paradise.
It never does. It usually leads to some kind of hell. But it always finds people to subscribe to its ideas who become fanatical in defense of it, no matter how much the system abuses them. And it deludes many others into wanting it because it preys on their human nature, the very thing that destroys it in the end.

The LG or Limited Government system is the best system for human freedom. As a result it has been very rare in human history. Where it has been allowed to flourish, human beings have flourished. But those who believe in BG are always trying to corrupt and destroy LG societies. This is because LG denies ultimate power to those who seek it. An LG system is more fair because you get what you put in. You have the ability to advance to any level as long as you don’t abuse the success that you have made or use it against others.

Before we explore how each system works, we need to understand the mindset of the people who believe in either system. I once did a cartoon illustrating the philosophies in the form of two Greek Philosophers, Aristotle and Plato. Each philosopher created the groundwork for understanding these schools of thought.
LG (Plus) believers are Aristotlian. They are like engineers. If something is proven to work, then they believe in it. They are not opposed to experimentation, but only if it involves proven principles. Ideas that are demonstrated to fail are rejected. They understand that human beings are flawed creatures. Humans are born hungry and spend their lives seeking to fulfill those hungers. In scientific terms, humans are driven by genetic hard wiring. It is part of their nature. In religious terms, humans are born with “original sin”. We can’t radically change who we are and remain human. We can only seek to improve ourselves through discipline, education, reason and morality.
LG believers understand that humans are often given to a lust for power because we all want some kind of control. LG societies are designed to limit governance so the state can never become tyrannical. It realizes that human nature is a constant so you have to develop a system that works within its framework, and keeps its basic problems in check. That way a politician’s greed is limited by what they are allowed to do by laws. The less interference a government has in human affairs, the more free the people are to progress on their own and flourish. LG believers are for individual rights. They believe a perfect society may not be possible, but it can be best achieved by respect for others rights and liberties. They believe in a social contract and the rule of law. They want people to be free in order to live their life without interference, as long as they respect others rights. The LG is there to enable the society to function and keep the peace, but it is not there to dominate or dictate how one should live.

BG (Minus) believers are Platonic. They posit that there’s an ideal form of society somewhere in the future, a utopia populated by an idealized form of humanity. This can only be achieved by forcing people to change through rules, laws and governance. It wraps itself in good intentions, but it ignores human nature, believing people can be changed by rules. Making the public follow orders will correct their bad behavior as the state sees it. It does not believe it can be tyrannical because BG systems are always sure they’re correct, not matter what happens. Dissenters are ridiculed or punished. No matter how many mistakes a BG society makes or disasters it causes, it does not admit its fault. BG believers preach dependence on the state. It denies individual empowerment or freedom and instead promotes group think. It pushes the group over the individual to keep people in check. It does not want leaders so much as followers. Its leaders are usually the hungriest for power that make their way to the top by gaming the system.

BG societies are constantly creating diversions to keep the public focused on policies it wants to sell. So it often creates “crises” of some kind that the people are supposed to rally around. In order to get them to give up more freedom or personal wealth, it often uses scare tactics, such as threats of invasion, threats of nature, etc. The elites in a BG system always live vastly better than those at the bottom, but it always promises some kind of “equality” that never exists in reality. And because the BG system is large and complex it relies on bureaucracies to manage them. But because bureaucracies are made of humans, human nature always corrupts these systems. A bureaucracy becomes inefficient and corrupt in direct proportion to its size. The larger, the less effective, the more corrupt.
BG systems usually lead to economic collapse and stagnation. Usually with dire consequences for millions of people. That is why citizens in BG societies often yearn to go to LG societies. Many of them risk their lives to escape from BG societies that hold them captive. Because in worst case scenarios, BG systems imprison their citizens.

They are all, to some extent, anti-freedom. It’s a matter of degree.

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To read the rest of the article  http://thehud.com/essays/the-new-fascists/

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Famous Quotes on Liberty

“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say ‘what should be the reward of such sacrifices?’ Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

—Samuel Adams
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But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

John Adams
July 17, 1775
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I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!

John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, November 2, 1800
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Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.

John Adams, Defense of the Constitutions, 1787
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If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791
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But as the plan of the convention aims only at a partial union or consolidation, the State governments would clearly retain all the rights of sovereignty which they before had, and which were not, by that act, EXCLUSIVELY delegated to the United States.
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 32, January 3, 1788
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Here sir, the people govern.
Alexander Hamilton, speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, June 17, 1788
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A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.
Thomas Jefferson, Rights of British America, 1774
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Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781
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But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years.
Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789
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And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18, 1781
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A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.
Thomas Jefferson, Rights of British America, 1774
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I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800
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Build an emergency heater VIDEO

Handy Old Timey Farm Devices and How to Make Them

Handy Farm Devices
and How to Make Them

by Rolfe Cobleigh

Be sure to check out the index at the end of this post for other categories of old timey farm life. – Phoebe

In and Around the House (part II)

How to Cut Bread Even

Bread Cutting Board

Here is one of the most useful devices to which the handy man can give his attention. It is very rarely that a housekeeper can cut even and handsome slices of bread, however much she may desire to have the bread plate look attractive. One slice will be thin, another thick, while another will be thick on one edge and thin on the other. The drawing shows a simple arrangement by which all the slices of bread can be cut of an even thickness without any slant.

Cut a piece of pine board to about 9 x 13 inches. Near one end, on either side, insert firmly two pieces of very stout wire, bent double, as suggested in the cut. These wire supports should be at least 7 inches high, and should have another inch of length firmly inserted in the wood. The wire should be as stout as No. 12, or larger still, and should stand exactly at right angles to the board. Put them far enough apart so the largest loaf will readily go between them, and have the opening in each wire standard just wide enough so the knife will slide up and down without “wobbling.” The dotted lines show the position of the knife when in place. Screw a little strip of wood in front of the wire, just far enough ahead to make the slice of bread the right thickness. Press the loaf up against this guide and cut off a slice, then press the shortened loaf up again, and repeat the process.

Homemade Water Cooler

It’s a mighty nice thing to have a good supply of cold water at the barn when threshers, corn huskers, or hay harvesters are at work. A simple and effective arrangement can be made by using a flour barrel and a 10-gallon stone jar. Place the jar inside the barrel and surround it with charcoal, sawdust, or chaff, if nothing else is available. With a tight lid and a wet cloth spread over the top, water will keep ice cold in this arrangement. The uses of such a cooler may be multiplied to include keeping many things cool in the house.

Keep Food Cool in Summer

A very convenient and serviceable place to keep dairy products may be formed by sinking a large barrel in the ground. A shady spot should be chosen, or the heat of the sun will affect the temperature. Fill in around the barrel with small stones, gravel and sand, dampened in order to maintain coolness.

Construct a box around and above the top of the barrel, and bank up with solid earth, preferably clay. This drains off the water when it rains. It also makes the bottom of the barrel farther down from the top of the opening, which further promotes coolness. Next shape a light, inner lid to place on top of the barrel, and then make a strong, hinged lid for the box, and arrange it so it may be fastened down tightly.

Sprinkle a little dampened sand on the bottom of the barrel, and your little barrel cellar is ready for use. By being careful several vessels may be arranged one above the other in this handy little receptacle. Air out occasionally to prevent mold and odors from collecting.

A Cooler Dummy

Where a deep, cool well is located near the house an arrangement may be devised that will serve the purpose of a refrigerator. Construct a frame of strong boards with a groove in which a board on the side of the box of shelves can run. Attach a rope to the top of the box of shelves, pass it over a wheel on the crank shaft and balance with a counter weight.

If the frame is 16 feet long and extended down near to the surface of the water the lowest temperature may be secured. A nice looking top may be constructed for the arrangement, with a door opening into the shelves when they are drawn to the top. Most wells are almost as cool as a refrigerator, and this sort of an arrangement serves the purpose with a great deal less expense.

A wire clothesline will serve as a cable. Any old pieces of iron will do for the counter weight, and it is well to have a ratchet wheel, such as are found on old chain pumps, to prevent the elevator dropping when it is well filled. Make as many parts as possible of wood to prevent rusting. One such elevator is 42 inches high and 18 inches square.

Turning the grindstone is hard work; but if you use it as a muscle developer it will help out.

An Outdoor Closet

When the housewife has baked a pie or a pudding for dinner and wishes to cool it quickly in winter it has to be set out of doors; but there the trouble begins. It cannot be set upon the snow, since that would melt and engulf the hot dish. Moreover, the cat or dog, or some neighbor’s cat or dog, is likely to be lurking about the door, ready for pie. Let the handy man make a little out-of-door cupboard for the use of the housekeeper, locating it beside the kitchen door. Get an empty grocery box of the right size and hinge the cover to the top, placing a knob on the other edge. Make a support for this closet by driving two strips of wood into the ground and screwing two crosswise strips of board to the tops. Lay the grocery box on its side on these supports and nail it to them from the inside.

Here anything hot can be placed to cool quickly, and with the cover down there will be no danger from cats or dogs or hens. If desired to give a freer access to the cold air, several holes can be bored in each end and in the bottom before putting the box in position on the supports. If the ground is frozen too hard to insert the strips of board, the closet can be placed against the side of the house, close to the kitchen door, and supported in place by two wooden brackets. Another plan to secure the same result would be to make the closet and screw a wooden handle to the middle of the top, with holes bored in ends and back. When it is to be used put the dish, or dishes, inside and set the closet out onto the snow beside the door.

Taste the joy
That springs from labor.
– Longfellow.

Homemade Refrigerator

Take two large boxes, one 2 inches smaller than the other every way, and bore two 1-inch holes in the bottom of each box for drainage. Fill up 2 inches in the large box with powdered charcoal or coal ashes. Put the smaller box inside and fill the space all around with the charcoal or ashes. Fix the lids to both boxes to fit tightly. Put shelves on both sides of inner box. Leave a place in the center of the box for ice. A rack, made of lath, can be laid at the bottom for ice to rest on.

Iceless Butter and Milk Cooler

The accompanying picture shows how a well may be utilized during the warm months for cooling butter, milk and other perishable articles. It will be found very handy as a substitute for a refrigerator when the farmer has no ice supply. Anyone can make a triangular-shaped frame for the windlass, which is placed above the well; and anyone can also put the trap doors in the platform of the well. These doors should be provided with a lock, so children cannot fall in. A pin may be placed on the handle side of the windlass to prevent the crank from turning around when the box is lowered to the desired depth.

The picture is only suggestive. The shape and size of the various parts will depend upon the style of the well. Preferably, the box should be made of galvanized iron and have perforations in the bottom, so it may be lowered right into the water. Of course, this would not be feasible if the materials to be kept cold were not first placed in sealed receptacles. Where a well with a bucket pump or the ordinary wooden pump is the only available place to put such a cooler, the cooler may be at one side of the well. If necessary, the position of the pump may be shifted.

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.
– Samuel Johnson.

Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power.
– Horace Mann.

But now my task is smoothly done, I can fly, or I can run.
– Milton.

A Ventilated Pump Platform

Here is a way to keep the well clean and pure at all times. Make the frame of the platform of 2 x 4′s, allowing a space 2 to 6 inches between the top and bottom parts of the sides. This space is covered on the inside with a fly screen to keep out dirt and insects, and outside of this with a larger meshed screen to keep out large vermin. This gives good ventilation to the well, which never becomes foul. In the winter cover the platform with straw and snow.

Cleaning a Well

To remove floating litter from a well, take an ordinary sand sieve, and, after marking off the rim into three parts, attach a wire to any of the two points and to this improvised handle attach a rope. Fasten the end of the rope to the third point in the rim and a weight to the sieve, so that it can be lowered into the well and will sink. When used, sink the sieve edgewise into the water and pull the rope with a single attachment and it may be lifted out with all the floating sticks and timber on the surface of the water.

Dog Power for Pump

This sketch shows an arrangement for making use of the dog for carrying water. It simply consists of a wheel 8 feet in diameter and 18 inches wide, with room enough inside for the dog to walk around, where he acts as a tread power, which causes the pump to revolve. In southern California there are a number of these dog-power pumps, which cost less than $15. A good-sized dog can easily earn his living in an arrangement of this kind.

Filter for Cistern Water

The problem of keeping water in a cistern clean is most easily solved by not allowing it to get dirty, as can be done by the device shown in the drawing. Two barrels, each with a perforated false bottom, are set side by side beneath the water spout from the roof and connected with a pipe leading to the cistern. Above the false bottoms fine gravel and then sand are packed to the depth of 8 or more inches. On top of the sand rest stout floats as large as can be let down into the barrels. From near the margin of the floats two heavy wires extend vertically upward about 2 feet to engage loosely near their centers with a tilting spout by means of knobs on both the ends of the spout and the wires.

When the barrels are empty the floats rest on the sand. As the water begins to pour in one barrel it strikes the float, but is prevented from gouging a very deep hole at the outside of the barrel by striking a strip of wood about 1 inch high, 2 inches wide and 1 foot long. This spreads the flow. A layer of gravel at this place would also help prevent gouging. If the flow is too great to filter away readily, the float will rise and the knob on the wire will engage with the spout, which will be tilted until the flow will suddenly start into the other barrel. If the delivery pipe to the cistern be large enough there should be no danger of either barrel overflowing. When the sand becomes dirty a few minutes will serve to remove it and put in fresh. This will insure clean water in the cistern, and greatly reduce the number of times the disagreeable job of cleaning out the cistern must be done.

A Handy Water Filter

Nearly every farm can boast of good water, but no water, either from well, spring or stream, is pure, as it all contains more or less animal or vegetable matter. The only way to make it pure is to filter it, just as is done in city supply reservoirs, or private filtering tanks.

A simple water filter is very easily made that answers all purposes for domestic use. The plan of its operations is identical with that employed in large reservoirs where water is filtered on a large scale for general distribution. This filter consists, primarily, of two flower pots, set one above the other. In the bottom of the upper pot is stuffed a large sponge. A sponge is also stuffed in the bottom of the lower pot, but it is more adequately supplied with filtering material by placing above the sponge a layer of smooth pebbles, then a layer of coarse sand, and still above this a layer of pounded charcoal 3 or 4 inches in depth. It is also best to place another layer of smooth pebbles above the charcoal, to prevent it from being stirred up during the circulation of the water.

The upper pot should be the largest, and if the lower one is strong, the upper one may stand in it, or two strips of wood will serve as a base support. The two pots thus arranged are placed on a three-legged stool with a hole in it, through which the water drips through the bottom of the lower pot into the mouth of a jug set underneath. The upper pot serves as a reservoir, and its sponge stops the coarser impurities, and thus the filtering layers of the lower one may be used for a year without being renewed, though it is necessary frequently to clean the sponge of the upper pot.

The layers of sand and charcoal of the lower pot are positively effective in stopping all animal and vegetable matter, as well as many smaller impurities in the water. The only trouble one may experience with it is in neglecting the upper sponge for too long a time, or in stuffing it in too loosely, thus allowing the water to pass from the upper pot faster than it can filter through the lower one. Only a little attention, once or twice a month, is sufficient to keep this simple filter in perfect running order.

Delivering Mail by Trolley

Where the house stands some distance back from the highway a trolley can be rigged up to save steps in getting the mail. The box is hung on two pulley door hangers, as shown in cut. A strong post, with a bent arm, is set next the highway, a, suspended between it and the house, on which the box runs. A pulley is fastened in or to, the post, and over it runs a cord, b, c, to pull the box back and forth between the house and the road. The box is sent down to meet the carrier, who places the mail in it, and then it is quickly pulled back to the house.

Beauty in a Barrel

A very nice ornamentation for the lawn is shown in the picture. It is made by sawing an oil barrel in two as shown, and mounting it on legs. Paint it and set one-half of the barrel on each side of the walk and use them for growing flowers in during the summer. Care should be taken to have the hoops thoroughly nailed to the staves and to have the heads solid. Dark green or dark red are good colors for the painting. If preferred, the barrel may rest upon the ground, but should be securely braced or blocked to prevent rolling.

Storage Bin for Vegetables

Instead of keeping the vegetables in barrels or boxes scattered all over the cellar, have a set of storage bins. Take six drygoods boxes and bolt them together as shown in the drawing. Put legs on them to hold them off the floor and a cover on the top. Then paint on the boxes the names of the vegetables. It is most convenient to have the vegetables most frequently used in the upper boxes, which would not be true of the bin shown in the picture. If the upper row of boxes is attached to each other, but not to the lower ones, the top section can easily be moved enough to make filling the lower boxes a simple matter. Otherwise, the vegetables would have to be put in through the openings at the top of each box a few at a time by hand, instead of pouring them in.

Many people would not care to keep their potatoes in such a sectional bin, preferring a large separate bin. It certainly is all right for other root vegetables, and many other products of the farm that are stored might well be kept handy for use in such a labeled sectional bin.

An Inexpensive Cellar

A temporary cellar is sometimes necessary in cold countries where that under the house is not sufficient for storing vegetables. A very effective and useful temporary cellar may be constructed after the following method, as shown by the drawings: Dig a pit 15 feet long, 10 feet wide, 4 feet deep in a solid, dry place where the drainage is good. Put a gable roof of 1-inch board over the hole, supported by 2 x 4-inch strips at the eaves, gable and half-way up the sides. Strengthen by crossbeams and a central support if the lumber is not first class. Over this place 8 to 10 inches of dry straw well packed and over the entire structure, excepting one end, pack earth 12 to 14 inches deep. The surface should be smooth to shed water. It is better if plastered with mud covered with sods.

The door end must be double-walled and the space filled with straw. The door must also be double and its margin packed with cloth strips, so as to be practically airtight. If possible, the pit should be drained by a tile, the end of which is covered with a piece of wire netting to prevent the entrance of rodents. Such a cellar will prevent freezing during usual winter weather. The door should be opened on mild days and the interior aired thoroughly. The size and depth of the pit may be varied according to needs.

Clothesline Up and Down

Heavy posts should be set for the ends, 3 feet in and 3 feet out of the ground. It is not necessary for the center post to be as heavy as the end ones. Have the posts clean and smooth, so they will not soil the clothes when blown against them. Take a piece of 2 x 4-inch hard wood 5 feet long for the lever. Fasten to the post near the top with a 3/4-inch bolt, 2 feet next to the line and 3 feet for the lever. A block holds the lever in position while the clothes are being put on. A button holds the lever upright when the line is hoisted.

A Clothes Horse

There is no little thing that will save the household so much as a revolving clothes horse, so near the back stoop that the clothes may be hung on it without stepping out in the snow. A solid post should have a hole bored in the top and the arms may be beveled and spiked to a piece of plank through which a bolt passes into the post, or each arm may be bored to let the bolt pass through it. Three, four or five arms may be used as desired, and of any length, provided all are of one length. No skill is required in making it, as the rope holds the arms up simply by being tight enough. It is well to set the post before measuring for the arms, so that they may be sure to reach the veranda. Some laths may be nailed together at first to make a model, if you are not sure of your ability as a carpenter.

A Toilet Closet

A small closet in a home, for keeping medicines and toilet articles, is a great convenience. One consists of 1/2-inch pine, 4 inches wide, planed and put together so as to be 2 x 3 feet. It has four shelves. The door is of thin pine, free from knots, planed, hinged and with a back catch. The outside of frame and door is varnished. Being in the toilet room, it is indeed a very useful as well as ornamental piece of furniture. It has no back casing or boards; simply rests against the wall. It is held in place by four short pieces of band iron, one end of each band being fastened to back of frame, the other end fastened to the wall by a screw. All kinds of medicines, shaving materials, soaps, wash rags, can there be kept. If there is no other looking-glass in the room, one may be fastened on the outside of door.

Revolving Cellar Shelf

A handy cellar shelf that will save the housekeeper many steps may be arranged at the side of the cellar stairs, within easy reach upon descending a few steps. The shelf is contrived from an old axle and wheel. The axle is fastened to hang from the nearest beam to the stairway. The wheel is covered with thin, smoothly planed boards and the axle is kept well oiled, so the wheel will revolve readily, bringing all parts of the shelf within reach at need.

Water Supply for Farmhouse

Farmers can have running water, hot or cold, in their dwelling houses at a cost of fifty dollars and up, depending upon the size of the house and the kind of equipment needed. This makes possible the bath and toilet room, protection from fire, the easy washing of windows and walks, the sprinkling of lawns, the irrigating of gardens, and all the other conveniences which a few years ago were thought possible only in cities, where big water systems were available. This is one of the things that makes farm life attractive. It lessens the work in the house, insures a fine lawn and garden, reduces danger from fire, adds greatly to comfort and convenience in every direction.

The way to secure this is to install a water supply system, with a pressure tank in the basement.

This pressure tank is so arranged that by pumping it full under strong air pressure the water is forced all over the house, and is available for the bathroom, toilet room and the garden or fire hose. The water is distributed about the house exactly as it is in city homes, by means of galvanized iron pipes. Where a small building is to be supplied and the amount of water to be used is not large, the system can be installed for $50. For the average house $90 is a better figure. Where the house is large, and where considerable amounts of water are needed for the lawn and garden, and possibly also for washing carriages, automobiles and horses, a larger system should be installed, costing up to $150.

Installation and Operation

Its installation is easy, and its operation is exceedingly simple. Any pipe fitter or plumber can put in the plant so that it will work perfectly. All that is needed for operating is to keep the tank pressure up to the desired point. This may be 20, 40, 60 or 100 pounds. A few strokes of the pump, if the work is done by hand, is sufficient. If a lot of water is used, of course the amount of pumping will increase. By being economical in the use of water, that is to say, wasting none, this matter of pumping is not at all a serious problem.

The most satisfactory method of pumping, however, is to use a windmill, or what is much better, a gasoline engine. Every up-to-date farm ought to have a small gasoline engine, which can be utilized not only for operating this water supply system, but for churning, sawing wood, cutting feed and doing a dozen and one other jobs about the farm. It would take only a few minutes of pumping to raise the pressure in the tank the desired height. With the engine it will not be necessary to be economical in using water, provided the well is a good one, and the supply of water large.

Experience with Water Supply System

C. A. Shamel of Illinois, editor of the Orange Judd Farmer, has a system of this kind in his country home. It cost $75. He put in a bathroom, a toilet, has a hot water tank in connection with the kitchen range, and no money ever expended on that farm has given anything like the amount of satisfaction and comfort as that paid for this water supply system. Arrangement is made to take care of the waste water and sewage by running a large tile from the bathroom, one-quarter of a mile distant, to a large cistern, located in the center of a big field. This is disinfected about twice a year, and is easily handled. There is never any trouble with the water pipes, even during the coldest weather. Neither has there been any difficulty with the waste system. In fact, the water supply is practically perfect, and the people on that farm don’t see how any farmer who can get together $75 or $100 can afford to be without it.

Up to date all the pumping has been done by hand. With the pump in perfect condition, this is not a laborious problem. On two occasions the pump valve became slightly defective through wear, and it was not convenient to fix it for a few weeks, being somewhat distant from the factory. With this condition it required a great deal more labor to do the pumping, but even with this disadvantage, it was not a serious proposition.

The illustration indicates the arrangement of a water supply system, and, as can be readily seen, it is very simple. Notice the hand force pump tank in the basement to hold the water under pressure, and the arrangement of lavatories, bath and kitchen hot water service. The system can also be used for supplying water to stock tanks, and these may be located anywhere on the farm. The pressure developed in the tank is sufficient to force the water anywhere wanted. This use will, of course, depend entirely upon the wishes of the owner and is simply a matter of cost of pipes. It can very readily be used for delivering water to dairy or other stock barns, where it can be run into water troughs in the stalls, or elsewhere, as desired.

Warning Against Fire

A handy device that will give an alarm in case the roof catches fire close to the chimney is shown. Drive a nail in two rafters on a line with the face of the chimney, to which stretch a cord close to the chimney, so that, in case of fire, the cord will burn off and release the weight hanging to it, which in turn will drop on an electric button and ring a bell. A dry battery will cost 20 cents and a bell 50 cents. Place these on a shelf above the fireplace. Place a piece of heavy wire, b, 10 inches long, as shown, and fasten to the wall or chimney for the weight, a, to slide on. The weight need be suspended only an inch or two above the bell.

Where to Hang a Fire Ladder

A necessity on all farms and near all farm buildings are ladders and other means of getting on the roofs, and in and out of upper story windows in time of emergency. A scuttle should be left or made in the highest part of the house roof and a ladder should be at hand that will reach the eaves of the highest roof. A good place to store a ladder of this kind is under the eaves of the L or along the rear wall of the house. Have two hooks to hang it on. Make a good ladder and keep it painted.
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If your cellar is dark, there is danger of accidents when going down the stairs. Have the last step whitened so that you may easily know when you are at the bottom. You can see this step plainly even in a dim light.

1. Workshop and Tools
2. The Steel Square
3. In and Around the House
3. In and Around the House Part II
4. Barns and Stock
5. Poultry and Bees
6. Garden and Orchard
7. Field and Wood
8. Gates and Doors
9. When We Build
9. When We Build Part II
10. Worth Knowing
10. Worth Knowing Part II

Next: 4. Barns and Stock

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