The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, July 29, 1932, Page 2

etd by SR AT ATATTTTT MB TTT Avec ecnvvvnccanetnua mite the locks of one youngster, while others watch and await their own turns, Hair-cutting time at the Murgay home. . RS. JAMES R. MURRAY, at 42, is the mother of 19 children, and she is going smiling through this depression with less money than many a wife gets for pin moncy. She doesn’t believe money brings happiness, doesn’t believe in divorce, doesn’t know any- thing about calories and baby specialists. She does believe that a wife can’ live on what her husband earns, and she believes birth control is murder. Five sets of twins have been born to her. She has received _ letters from all over the world. When the 19th child —a 12-pound girl—was born recent- ly she received 500 letters in one week. Some were sympa- thetic. Others called down the wrath of God. Mrs. Martha Mui- ray lives in the out- skirts of Sedalia, Mis- souri, where the south- em breezes sigh through the maples in the springtime. She croons to the babies, listens to the warm spring breezes in the maples and_ believes she is rich in what this world has to offer. Rich—worth — mil- Yions—although her husband’s pay has been cut and the old- er boys are out of work. Wealthy, al- though she has brought her family along on her husband’s meager pay envelope, which con- tains less than $100 a month. SHE smiles and is happy, although economic adversity comes plunging down upon her family like a wild mountain torrent. Depres- sion? Why, whooping cough is worse than a depression. She has battled and conquered adversities so long and so many times they frighten her no more. Perhaps she will have more children. She does not know. When the 19th came she said it was “worth another million dollars.” Could you, Mrs. Housewife, make a section hand’s wages meet the expenses of such a household ? It is a warm spring Sunday. on the kitchen stove. Mrs. Murray is asked how much she spends a week on groceries. “About $12 or $13 a week,” she replies as she croons to the baby a lullaby. “Would you mind telling me what your menu is for today?” A pot boils 6¢T.OR breakfast we had oatmeal and bis- cuits,” she smiled. “It takes from 50 to 100 biscuits for a meal. No, we don’t have sugar on the oatmeal. For cream we pour a small can of canned milk into water. We do not have a cow and have no milk other than the canned milk. “For dinner I am having beans, meat and potatoes. By meat I mean bacon cooked with beans. “Tonight we shall have boiled rice. There may be some raisins in that. We buy most everything in hundred-pound lots. No, I do not know anything about calories. I know HH AB postion imnedngsaiveessivenyi ify twins, 5, and Billy and Betty, twins, 3... . In Cecil, 23; Alfred, 25; Dan, 16; Mrs. Murray, ho FEEDING « FAMILY © On less Th ee ‘ The 16 members of the Murray family who live at the family home in Sedalia, Mo. . . row, from left to right, are Lillian, 13; Frank, 11; Doris and Dean, twins, 9; Lloyd, 7; Ray and Joe, the back row, reading from the left, are James, 19; ding 3-months-old Lois Ann, and her husband, James Murray. what kind of simple food has made my children grow up strong and healthy.” Children dash through the house from play or cling to the mother’s: skirt. They are un- usually healthy and happy children. All have dark hair and all but two have dark eyes. They are laughing and shouting at each other. When she speaks to one of them it is in a low voice. She never screams or shouts. The children are obedient, and get along nicely with each other. Mrs, Murray can see no miracle in her life. To her it has gone on and on like a stream. Her husband is only working part time, and the old- er boys are out of work and at home, but this does not worry her. It does not worry James R. Murray, the father. 66 E have always believed in living within our income,” he explains, “*We spend what we earn and when we do not earn it we do not spend it.” During the World War her husband earned as high as $250 a month. But that was only for a period of six or seven months. Then for years he earned only a section hand's pay: $2.88 a day. Then the depression came and his pay was cut and now he only gets part- time work. They have been paying for their little home in Sedalia since 1917. They still owe $200 on the place. Although that now seems an in- surmountable debt, it does not worry the mother. They will pay it some day, some time. Prosperity may be around the corner to the business man, but Mrs. Murray never knew where prosperity was in her life. She has been busy all these years raising her family. They + Alfred Murray, one of the older brothers, is trimming an . In the front / have no radio, no motor car, no electric refrigerator, no modern bathroom, no phono- graph, no piano; but they have no worries, Mrs. Murray is asked to name her children and give their ages. They are: Mrs. Clara Murray Olks, 26 years old, who is married and lives in Detroit; Alfred Murray, 25; Cecil Murray, 23; Mrs. Adline Murray Gadberry, 21, who lives in Guthrie, Okla.; James Murray, Jr., 19; Lee Murray, 17; Dan Murray, 16; Lil- lian Murray, 13; Frank Murray, 11; Dean and Doris Murray, twins, 9; Lloyd Murray, 7; Ray and Joe Murray, twins, 5; Billy and Betty Murray, twins, 3, and Lois Ann Mur- ray, 3 months, Mrs. Gadberry was one of twins, the other child dying. Frank also had a twin that died when a baby. is of the older children were put through grade school, but mone attended high school. They planned to send one of the boys last fall, but there was not enough money. The oldest girl, Mrs. Olks, has been mar- ried 10 years, but has no children, “She says she does not want to be tied down with a family,” the mother explains. “I vis- ited her last summer in Detroit, and I suspect she thinks I am a bit old-fashioned. I over- heard her warn a girl friend she should not let me see her smoking a cigaret. ‘It would shock mother to death,’ she told her friend.” She smiled at one of her older sons. “Even he calls me old-fashioned some- Bath night in the Murray home . . brothers, Ray and Joe, while Billy looks on. times,” she says, smiling. ‘I do not believe in women voting. I cannot see that suffrage for women has righted the world. I believe voting and government a man’s duty, and if they can’t do it I don’t see how I can. “I try to teach my children not to drink and smoke. I am a member of the Baptist church and send the children to Sunday school every Sunday they can go. I have tried to teach them the things that are right and healthy for them. They leve me and I love them all.” IHE father, who is now 59, was somewhat of an adventurer as a young man. He finished the seventh grade in a country school, and when he was 9 years old he went to work as a farm hand. He joined the Missouri militia at the out- break of the Spanish-American War, and at the close of the war he enlisted in the regular army and went to the Philippines in the scout service. He became a first sergeant in the Philippine scouts and was wounded in service in the ‘islands. He receives $35 a month from the government as the result of his service and the wound. ‘That has’ been the mainstay of the (Copyright, 1932, by EveryWeek Magazine—Printed in U. 8. A.) Pea UU cL © ONTO LL PPAR RO.” ST TTT TTA TCT ° IS e Mont Fourteen of the 19 children of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Murray of Sedalia, Mo., are living at home, with the father the sole breadwinner, but whooping cough holds greater terrors for this happy, healthy family than any depression . with Lillian bathing her twin The old woman who lived in a shoe had noth- ing on Mrs. Murray + « . who finds, inci- dentally, that shoes are her biggest problem. wie ens) mother’s family purse. In 1902 he was discharged from the army and returned to a farm near Sedalia, where he set up in farming for himself. He married in 1904. Mrs. Murray then was just past 14. They continued to live on the farm un- til 1917, when rentals became so high he could not make any money. Tt was then he went to work for the Missouri Pacific railroad. He worked for a short time in the railroad shops, where pay was high. This lasted only a short time, and he obtained a job on the section gang. ee has never complained,” Mrs. Murray smiled at her husband. “He has always loved to work for us all. He is happy when he is working. He never goes anywhere. Always works, and works hard. His only diversion is reading now and then, after supper, in the evenings.” Taking care of such a large family keeps Mrs. Murray busy. What are her hours each day? “I arise at about 4:30 each morning and have breakfast by 6 o'clock. Then I fix my husband’s lunch and start getting the children off for school. I find plenty to do during the day, including a noon meal. “The children are always in bed by dark, and never later than 8 o'clock at night, as I am asleep by then. Of course the older boys are up later. They play cards or read. Mr. Murray reads until about 10 o'clock. “With so many children the clothing and shoe problem is a big one. I believe shoes are my greatest worry. The chil- dren wear coveralls,‘that is, the boys. I find I can buy them cheaper than I can make them. . i | MAKE all the clothing for the girls. I had a sewing machine up until just recently. When I was in the hospi- tal with the last baby some of the chil- dren played with the machine and broke it. Now I must do all my sewing by hand until there is another sewing machine. “What about the baths? Why, there is an old-fashioned zinc tub that comes into the house on Saturday nights. The twins want to be bathed together, and they make quite a tubful, “The older children bathe the younger ones. We do not have a barber bill. We have almost a self-sustaining community here. One of the older boys does all the hair cutting. The children sit in a chair in the back yard while he cuts their hair.” At meal time the older members of the fam- ily eat at the “first table” and the children come last. There are not enough chairs, and some of the children stand up at the table while they are eating. The Murrays have a large garden and have obtained additional ground nearby from the railroad to grow more greenstuff for the table. They keep a pig each year to “eat the scraps.” Tt furnishes meat at butchering time in the fall. They have no cow and no chi They “figure” cow's milk a needless luxury and one wonders at the health of the children when he recalls how the drinking of milk is ad- vocated for healthy children. But they get lots of sleep and lots of sunshine. ii ’ ANA 3 ce EEUU CCE & am vn 4 UUUAHONAUUOUGSRUKLOUO EUAN ALTA SMM MMMM 4 A ES tl TT nT UMEAUAUA AULA A aU A inno