Morris tribune., 1882-08-31
SIGHTS IN BELGIUM.
The Hard Lot of the Women and the
Dogs.


| Correspondence of Cincinnati Commercial
And nobody in this region seems to
work hard but women and dogs. The
Harvest hands" as they are called at
| home, were, with the fewest exceptions.
women. They were working like oxen.
In shape they are short and wide out
| Centuries of carrying heavy burdens up
on their heads and shoulders have stunt
| ed their height and broadened them out.
| This minute-5:30 in the morning-at
Cologne, hear the measured tramp Of
| soldiers in the street outside. l look out
a squad of gOod-sized, we!l-formed
| young soldiers are passing with lieu
tenant. They hold their heads up in a
spirited way, and march along timber
and elastic. Immediately behind them
follow three tawny, squatty women, car
rying upon their heads loads which look
| awful. 1t is enough 10 crush their skulls
in, one would think The picture tells
the whole story of life among the lower
| classes in the country. 1t is barhari<Iu
as complete as reigns am ong the Indian
| saVages OF America, where / e
| squaws do the drudgery and the men
fight and hunt. Men in uniform fairly
| swarm. They waddle about the country
railway stations in caps green, red, blue,
and black-fat, lazy-looking fellows
while out In the adjoining fields women
| lug and tug at the bundles Of hay and
grain and bend their backs in the turnip-
| fields, plying heavy hoes, horny-hand-
ed and stiff, with weary, weather-beaten,
scanned, stupid faces. 1t is not an agree
! able sight or an encouraging one for the
future progress of one OF the most civil
| lied nations in the world. Everywhere
are soldiers, soldiers, soldiers. march
| ing, drilling, or standing sentinel. Itold
| you OF those We saw before six o'clock
| this morning. At We went out to look
at some sort of ancient rubbish and
| splendid cavalry company passed us. full
hundred strong. Horse and rider
| seemed all one piece, and the animals
| feet seemed to move by c,ock-work, so
| perfectly trained. were they. 1t was
! fine sight. But the most magnifcently
disciplined standing army in the world
is maintained at cost which cannot fail
to tell on those people in the years to
! come. The men are drawn off to tight,
| and the women do the mems work. At
| this day in Germany women blacksmiths
| are not very uncommon. What is to be-
| come Of the rc:inenIentS of social life,
| the sweet sacrcdneSs of home? But |
felt sorrier, if possible, for the poor little
| dogs than even for the women. They
| have dogs life, indeed. They are not
| very big-no larger than the common,
| despised ''yellow dog" of America-yet
i two of them draw loads which seem
heavy enough for horse. The
little things are harnessed underneath
sort of long, heavy barrow upon wheels;
! this holds the load. 4 man or woman
holds the handles Of the thing. and the
dogs trot along beneath. Their ribs
stick out, ll-padded with flesh, as though
they were not very we'll fed. Their
painting sides, lOlling tongues, and sOr-
! rowtul appealing eyes, would touch the
heart of stone. Everything hereabOuts,
too, seems done by sheer, brute strength.
There is no saving of Labor either by ma
chlnery or by the application OF common
sense. In the field we saw no American
agricultural machinery, as in England
and Scotland. Where in America a load
of baggage, trunks, valises, and boxes
! would be piled high upon drag or
great truck, and tia1sferre at one gulp
for short distances, here your porter
takes it upon his head or arm, as the
| case may be, and luGs it off slowly and
painfully, one piece at time. We nave
had more fuss and trouble to keep from
losing our baggage. coming from London
to Cologne, than We should have at home
in going from New York TO san Francis
co and back again. Strange country this
where women and dogs do the hard
work, and where they have no checks
for baggage. Stockings are knit by hand
instead of by machinery, and in Ant
werp and Brussels the women are so in
dustrious that they knit running along
the streets going of errandS.