The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-11
RURAL GERMANY.
The Life of Drudgery Which the Ger
man Peasant Leads.
The clnmsy and Heavy Tools with
which He Works His Farm-.-
Flows OF Century-oid
Pattern.

AHN w. AhhA PNdaAI1S PAOplNAAy
in getting enough by the hardest kind of
work to 1--we on and having enough left
over to pay taxes, to give his marriageable
daughter dowry enough 10 mako than
sought after by the neigt bors' sons and to
lay upa few dollars a year for possible future
contingencies II he succeeds in doing these
things he is looked upon as a man of means
and afluence in the community. If he docs
not succeed he is contented. generally; u not
oontentcdh he emigrates TO Amertca Nations
may survive or perish, dyuaSties may rise or
faii, but a. long ss be is not disturbed and Is
left to work his farm and drink his beor, mis-
entre attention and that Of his wife, his
sous and his daughters, down to the smallest
fodder who can pull woods or pick up stones,
Is taken up by the few acres be cultivateA
HARD WORK AND POOR TOOLS.
His little patch Of ground, separated from
that Of his neighbor by no fence, Is the soene
Of his daily life from sunrise to sunset 40
companied by his family be goes there In
the carly morning, works hard all day and
returns to his cherries home, to repeat 1t all
the next day and the day after that Yet he
has no one but himself TO blame because his
work is 30 hard He does everything In the
hardest and most laborious way. Labor
saving machinery is unknown to him and ali
operations are conducted with the most
primitive implements The spade. mattock.
scythe, pillow and Tail are bis only tools.
With than he delves and digs, piows and
hRrrows, r-aps aud mows, plants and threshes
and performs all other farm operations.
Even this would not be so bad II his imple-
menta were not 80 clumsy and heavy. 1t
seems TO be- his idea that everything he has
about him must be durable, and durability
with him Is autonomous with largeness, His
spade Is q monster Of u~gliness. Twice as
large and heavy as Is necessary, its very
heaviness and largeness make It less effective.
It's handle, generally homemade, Is large In
circumference crooked whore it ought TO DO
straight and strnight where 1t ought to be
crooked, rough and uneven, and Is fastened
into the large socket Of the blade 10 such
an nl-htting and clumsy manner tina ono
cannot help but wonder what sort of
| crossed eyes tho man who made 1t had. To
be compelled to spade up the garden with
such an instrument would surely broak the
heart OF any patriotic American boy. The
mattock Is also u fearfuly and wonderfully
made concern. 1t cannot DO described; 1t is
simply sui generis. The nearest American
thing 10 1t is a grubhins hee; not an ordinary,
practical grubbing-hoe, but a great. lubberly,
massive one, such as one would imagine a
Chinaman or an ndian would make. 1t TO
quires an immense amount OF muscle to raise
it. But whom once raised 1t descends with
an Irresistible force, scattering the clods In
all directions.
AN ExAsPERATISo scYTHE.
Tho scythe has a blade twice or three times
as broad and heavy us the American ones-
And 1t Ia Joined 10 the handle In q most
PROFESSIONALLY clumsy and crude manner,
being retained In its place by screws and
nails and iron bands enough TO build a small
sized house. And the handle itself, besides
being large and rough and generally crooked
the wrong way, has a SGT OF grips which are
positively exasperating. thsy are placed at
such ineffective angles TO the blade. 1t Is
safe to say that a German scythe will weigh
threo or four times as much as an American
one and Is a hundred times harder to manage.
THE PLow OF = CENTURY.
But tho pillow Is worse than anything else.
Heavy and cumbersome, 1t bears n striking
resemblance TO the models Of plows which
were used In America a hundred years ago.
Made as nearly entirely of wood as a pillow
can be made and still toar up the surface of
the ground, It's diminut!ve share scratches
tho suifacs of the mellow earth in q manner
which would make a California gang-plow
laugh itself into hysterics- It's beam, large
and unwisldy always, crooked and rough
generally, looks as II it were originally in.
tended for an entirely different purpose, and
had boon put TO its present use only as a
makeshift or as the result OF an insane whim
of the owner. At the forward end OF the
beam arr ATTACHED two small wheels. eighteen
inches or two feet II diameter, which run
along upon the ground What the need is OF
thefe wheels is a darx and bloody mystery.
1t IL probable that the frst pillow made in this
vicinity was fitted with whools, hence evory
pillow since then has been mode 50, and It 1,
moro than probable that every pillow manu-
Eaciured here for a good mn1y years to CONS
will also nave them
THE P~Low-rEAM.
Tho team which drags the Instrument varies
considerably. II the owner be rather poor,
one cow does duty as q plow-hoTsa A steI
higher and two COWS appear. A man toler.
ably well Of, rich. one might safely say,
walks behind a horse and COW, while only
the peasant Rothschilds aro possessors OF tive
horses. own are very seldom seen. They
cannot be utilized for any other purpose OK
cept as boasts OF burden, while cows can b.
used not only In blowing, but also yield min
"a considerable item for thelr peas ant proprlt'
torS And right here lam reminded OF the fac
that J have secnSbut one mulo since setting
foot on European soil. And that solitary
specimen was such a m~ild-fnannervd, inoffen
dve chap, without a bit Of guile in tho depth
Of bis liquid eye, that l very much doubt Il
be would pass muster in America as a Simon
pure mule. At any rate, he allowed me &c
play with his ears, daily with his hin feet
and toy with various parts OF his person In
manner which I would not dare to assum,
with bis American relatives
WAXING UP.
American tools and modern Ar1orloat
farming machinery, however, are gradually
creeping into use; very gradually, II Is truo
for the German, under oil circumstances, "a G
most conservative chap AMI does not take a
all kindly to new things, but prefers oh
methods seemingly for no other reason thar
because they are old Yet his prejudices ar,
being slowly removed and one sees, now npC
then, an Agricultural implement store with
tolerably fair stock OF goods on hand. Thi
proves that they are used somewhere, buI
where / do not know. Certainly nono o
them are seen In tho fields
A Polite Duke
The duke Of Wellington was a good cour
tier. When George W, after describing, "a
he aometimeS allowed himself tn do how n