Connecticut western news., 1884-06-25
The Farmers Hired Sian.

i'm kinder lookin' around the market for a hired man," he exclaimed as he stopped at one of the stands and uibbled at an onion. "I kinder need one, but yet I kinder hope I shan't be able to find him."
 "How's that?"
 "WaH, there ain't no profit in hired man no more. No, sir, he's no good any longer"
 "What's the reason ?'
 "Oh, a dozen reasons. First and foremost, times have changed, and the hired man has changed with 'em. An sir, it makes me sad when I think of the hired men we had before the war-great big feIlers with the strength of an OK and the vim of locomotive. I didn't have to holler my lungs out to git one of | 'em out of bed at o'clock in the morn- ing, and it was all Icould do to coax 'em to go to bed at 10 o'clock at night. I'm afraid that we shan't never see no more hired men wuth keepin' around for their bread"
 "That's sad"
 "It's sad, and more, too. Now, as I said, I want hired man. I'm willing to pay $11 or SIP month for a smart one. Some farmers want man to work all day and all night, but that ain't me. I have never asked one to git out of bed before o'clock-never. I allus give my man three-quarters of an hour at noon, unless the hogs git out, or cattle | break in, or a shower is coming up. After man has worked right along for nine hours his system wants at least half an hour to brace up in. They don't 1 quit work on some farms till o'clock, but I'm no such slave-driver. At half past tell my man to knock off. All he has to do after that Is to feed the stock, cut little wood, mow some grass for the horses, milk four COWS, fill up the water-trough, start a smudge in the smoke-house, and pull 8 few weeds in the garden. I never hired 8 man who didn't grow fat on my work, and they allus left me feeling that they hadn't half earned their wages"
 He stopped long enough to wipe tear from his eyes, and then went on: "And now look at the hired man of today He wears white shirts and col lars. He won't eat with knife He wants napkins when he eats, and if we don't hang up Q clean towel once week he wipes on his handkercher. Call him at and he gets up at G.. He wants a whole hour at noon, and after supper he trots off to singing g-school or sits down to a newspaper. Fifteen years ago if my hired man was sick for half day I could dock him. If he died could take out months wages for the trouble. He was glad to git store-orders for his pay, and he would wash in the rain- barrel and wipe on the clothes-line. There's been 8 change, sir, an awful change, and if reaction don't set in pretty soon you will witness the downfall of agriculture in this country"
 "Then you won't hire anotherP"
 "Wall, I can't just say. Work is powerfully pressing, but I'm going slow. Before I hire him I want to know whether he's man who'll pass his plate for more meat and taters, and whether we've got to use starch in doing up his shirts. The last man I had took me to task for not holding family prayers twice day, and after I had done so I found it was only game of his to beat me out of half an hour a day. He thought he had pretty soft thing, and he looked mighty lonesome when I cut "Old Hundred" down totwolines and got through with the Lords Prayer in forty seconds. ."-Detroit Free Press.