Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-11-13

SALLY Ann JONEs, PAPERS.
No. Observation-Disclosures or Farm Iife--Tho
! Sad Results of Jeremiah,s Joining the
Farmers' Club. II 81 $50 h
a few years ago there was i good
deal OF excitement among the farmers
about the Farmers club and the
Grange, and Jeremiah, Of course, had
to belong to one or the other. After
considering the matter awhile, he con
Guided to join the Farmers club, for
the reason, he said, that women
belonged to the Grange. Says he, IL
know chat where a lot of women are
allowed to let their tongues run, a
man can have no chance to express
an idea OF Importance on any sub.
ject." -<*s =
"But, jeremiah, says l., 'even then,
you might get chance to express
your ideas. But 7 should think YOU
might find enough 4 to. attend to at
home to employ pretty much all your.
time, without joining either the club
or the Grange. There's the gate be-
tween the barnyard and the ten-acre
meadow hanging by one hinge Yes
terday, while you were gone to town,
l had to run myself nearly to death
to get the hogs out of the wheat6eld,
because, when the tree blew down
across the fence, instead of cutting it
away, as you ought to havedon you
built the fence up and left the trees
there, and then tried to stop up the
holes with chuncks where The rails
wouldn't fit around it. The fence,
| back OF the corntield, is so rotten that
a ten-year old boy could knock it
over with a. corn cob, and I've got
about tired picking up sticks and bark
to cook with. All the fence corners
are full OF briars, and the orchard-''
| l looked around, and jeremiah had
vanished while I had been talking,
and was nowhere to be seen.
jeremiah joined the Farmers club,
sui described for about halfa dozen agri-
cultural papers, and invested heavily
IN blooded stock. He bought a COW
that was all horns, and yearling cali
that was mostly name. He bought a
hog that had little or no hair on it,
and another that was nearly all hair,
and wound up by paying an enormous
price for two sheep with wool so fine
that it didn't look like it could be used
for anything but to line birds nests.
And all this time I ha6 no sewing
machine, no pump in well or cistern,
half the time had to pick up wood to
cook with, did the washing and iron
ing for jeremiah, myself, the two
children and the hired man, MIXED
four COWS, attended to the house work,
and did the sewing for the whole faml-
ly:
didn't say as much as some women,
and perhaps more than others would
have said, but I was getting madder
all the time, and soon settled it in
my own mind, that the day was not
far distant when there would be d
| revolution in the affairs of the Jones
family.
1t is only for thelast few years that
l have secceeded in getting jeremiah
to NOV the yard He used to saw
that it saved time and trouble Just to
turn some Of the stock into the yard
to eat the grass where it stood.
One morning, just as the day dawn
ed DER the eastern hills, l arose with
the lark, if not before him, cooked the
breakfast, reused up the men folks,
washed the dishes, cleaned the rooms,
MIXED the COWS, and then went to
work at the washing. had put my
first boiling OF clothes on the line, and
gone to the cistern for O. bucket OF
water, when saw Jeremiah's long
horned COW that he had turned into
the yard to Craze pulling at sheet
and trying to get it off the line. I
dropped the bucket and took after her
with the cistern hook, but before
could make her let 60 her hold of the
sheet, she gave it a jerk, broke the
line, and ran off, dragging the sheet
after her Some women would have
cried at the thought Of having all that
lot Of clothes to wash again, but
didn't. / Knew that jeremiah and the
hired men were taking q lunch and q
rest in the kitchen, and thither I
wendell my way. just as I reached
the kitchen door heard Jeremiah say,
| 1.-THE Farmers club is''--
Jeremiah" says I, "where is that
fclub?"
"What club?" says he.
s'The Farmers club" says I. "I
think if I had it now, could put it to
good use for once. I would break 1T
over your head and start you to doing
a few things that are needed to be done
around here-such as moving the ard
| and fixing fences, and the like. Then
I'd split the fragments into kindling
! wood to make a fire to boil the clothes
over, for I've picked up every stick and
shaving within q mile around, and
can't pick up any more, and if you
don't haul up some wood, there'll be
no more cooking nor washing done
here, unless new family moves in. I've
done my last job of picking up wood,
| now remember that; and the next thing
that you turn into the yard to Craze,
I'll set the dog after it,"
The hired man put on his hat and
left the house, and jeremiah tried to
do likewise, but stood between him
and the door till l made him under
stand that I meant what I said.
"And," says l, "you have just got to
stop going to that Farmers club do
ings. fyou must belong to one Or the
other, you have got to join the
Grange, tor women attend that, and
maybe you'll learn that women have
some rights and need some accom-
modations, and that men are not the
only beings in the world whose welfare
is worthy Of consideration
Jermiahs tried to dodge past ma
again to get to the door. "Not yet,
Jermiah," says I. "Will you quit the
club and join the GrangeW -.
~ ttT o,,e, ~, - $3.50. ~,NYu, -