The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-05-12
An English View CT American Hcuse-work

An English woman has lately written out the
experience of an English family who settled few
years ago upon Worn-out Virginia estate living
somewhere west of Lynchburg and near the base
OF the Blue Ridge. The family evidently came
rom good social position at home and were ia
mlllar with the best side of life in England and on
the continent, but knew as little of america as
most intelligent English people do
The ladies of the household found plenty of
work to do, and were of course much troubled to
get efficient help. They found that farmers
wives in America often have hard life and dis
cover how it is that American house wives, (who
cannot get good servants for twelve pounds a
year'-slXty dollars do not often ike walking
ten miles day in the open air, even il they had
time.
After the summer was over, | felt almost worn
out. Our ''help" was very uncertain. There was
nothing Tor 1T but to wait and hope that somebody
fairly respectable would turn up before we got
quite Worn out. | daresay did more than | was
obliged to do; but it seems to me, as look back.
that | could not have helped doing it at the time
However. when most overworked, | could ALWAYS
think Of the stories had read and heard of set
tiers IN Wisconsin, Nebraska, and other Western
States, and feel thankful that my lot had not been
cast IN those uninvitlng regions. With me, too,
was the constant thought 1t is Just for this
once. 1t will not happen again. 1t was
enough to make ones heart ache to read Of the
wretched slavery of these Western settlers wives
and it happened that lust about that time a
IN the Home Interests department of the North
ern agricultural paper to which we subscribed.
These communications We're not made for the
mere sake Of grumbing but with Il view to fud
out whether help could not be had from the
overtowing Eastern cities so that the hard lot of
the writers might be eased little
used to think that American women had
everything their own way that America was a
sort OF womans paradise Bat these desparlng
letters modified my ideas considerably. For in
stance, one woman wrote that her husband owr ed
500 acres of land in Iowa; had reaper mower.
horse rake and various other more or less costly
labor saving farm implements All harvest time
five children, one baby in arms-was expected
to have breakfast on the table daily before sunrise
for all this company. Remember that Americans
away have hot bread for breakfast She helped
IN the evening milking of nine cows dunng the
busiest part Of the season, with baby on her lap,
il awake at that hour. and the other children cry
ing for sleepiness She also had the butter to
make whenever the dog was refractory and re
fused to churn to carry the sour milk to the pigs
to make and mend wash starch and iron wash,
dress and feed the little children pick, can or
otherwise preserve fruit for winter use cook not
only the three regular meals with hot bread. but
also get ready the moon piece'-a kind of lunch
con, | suppose eaten in the field. All this she
seemed to take matter of course. Other wo-
men had nearly the same work to do, only they
had not perhaps, so many young children: or
their husbands. happily did not farm so many
acres One thing seemed to strike her as rather
hard-and that the Juggling OF the butter
milk up from the cellar all the way to the pig open
Rnt think the last straw" in her ease was this
she had asked one of the hands" who was resting
IN the porch-she being in the agones of dishng
up dinner with a crying baby Oh one arn-tO fetch
her bucket OF water from the spling. and had
thereupon been reproved by her husband