The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-09-30


be happy, but when they get riches
they are disappointed in their expec-
tatiOnS and having cultivated no 9th
er wants or learned Of ways to satisfy
them they are miserable.
But there is little use in suggesting
means of entertainment for the young
unless you give them time to enjoy
them. They should be given as much
liberty as is consistent with parental
discipline and good conduct. | see
| no reason why the farmers boys and
| girls should not have Saturday after
noon to themselves regularly, Just as
employers in the city are compelled
| to give their employees a weekly half
holiday. If this was adopted as rule
among the farmers in this county it
would prove source of inestimable
benefit and pleasure to the young and
40 loss to the farmer. With the in
| PRODUCTION of machinery and improv-
ed processes of production the hours
| OF labor have been made regular and
| shortened in all industrial occupa-
| tlons. This must come on the farm
too see that some of you shake
your heads, but L repeat that it must
| come. Farm labor Will adjust itself
to these changes like all other kinds.
Ii 1t does not civilization is no bles-
sing. understand perfectly well
! that it cannot be done at once. You
| should have it in view and work to-
ward it. You say that you could not
get your work done in shorter hours.
| 80 did the manufacturers. But they
| found themselves mistaken. The
hours were reduced by steps from IA
to 10: instead of decrease they found
| an actual increase in results. / firm
| ly believe that your experience would
| be the same on the farm. If field
| work were commenced regularly at
I:30 with an hour and a half at.noon,
to end promptly at $50, you would
see better results on the farm as a
whole, at the end of the season, than
by working longer and with less regu-
larity. This wOnld give you ample
time for doing chores and little leis-
ure for reading the papers. You could
do the tinkering and mending and
save time that would other wise be
wasted in the working hours. The
boys and girls could tend their
pets do some chores, look after their
flowers and garden and have a little
time for game of croquet or a ride.
1t is not hard work that kills. 1t is
endless work. The work is no more
endless on the farm than anywhere
else unless you make it such. Perhaps
l ought to make one qualification
here. q Woman's work on the farm
seems indeed endless. But even here
a little thought and method can allie
viate great deal / suggested a
while ago that it is not hard work but
endless work that kills. The same is
true Of cares and responsibilities such
as woman's. 1t is not the great trials
that break her down. 1t is the thous-
and little cares and worries that
constantly weigh on and worry her
mind that often make the farmers
wife break down. You have cares
but they are few as compared to hers.
The weightier burdens of life may
fall upon you, but hers are the more
eXacting: she has the care and respon-
sibility of motherhood and the entire
home. Every step you save her, every
unnecessary care and worry you keep
from her will save her strength and
add to the happiness Of the family.
Inventions and machinery have done
little for her. The sewing machine
and clothes ringer is about all that
she has to boast of. You can save
her many steps and much care by hav-
ing good cellar and good sized and
well arranged kitchen with a sink and
hot and cold water. Pressure can be
secured by having a small tank above
the kitchen and pumping it full once
week. 1t would cost but little.
Don't forget a good big wood box
that is always kept full mot by herr
and good and convenient clothes lines.
| shall not make any more Sugges-
tionS for fear that my wife might hear
Of them. If our wives and daughters
are not healthy, strong and content
ed we can't expect to have strong and
courageous boys.
Sons from their mothers most
their talents take,
Mothers the first and last i'm
preSSiOns make.
1 have spoken thus lengthy and
earnestly because as citizen and as
farmersson am deeply solicitous that
the sons and dag uhters of the brave
men and women who went into this
beautiful country as wilderness and
by their courage and industry have
made it what it should be succeeded
on their farms by their sons and
daughters. We need the traits and
courage of such blood to settle with
safety and wisdom the questions that
even now are ringing now on the hori-
Zon. We need them. We need them
to counterbalance the corrupt ten
denotes of the great cities and to in
sure the welfare of our country and
the perpetuity Of its institutions.
]. E. Brown was next introduced,
and spoke in his usual humorous vein.
He said that when, % years ago, he
walked into Garden City a tramp, J.
III. Ray was standing in front of his
store cleaning an old shot gun.
During his 20 miles drive from
Mapleton to Garden City yesterday he
had noticed many things which led
him to believe that financial and po-
litical disaster are at hand and that
the county is on the verge of ruin. In
his sorrow, he wrung copious tears
from his 'kerchief. He had noticed
that the farmers actually lived in
houses that cost no more than from
s., 800 to SO, 900: that their barns were
no larger than 60X40: in one naSture