The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-23
LIFE IN A SODHOUsE.
Not so Pleasant ms Il Might He, Especially
for the Housewife.

from the Chicago Tinies.
Ca II new farm In western Nebraska tho
house is a very inconspicuous object. The eye
wanders over immense grain fields. perhaps o
large timber claim Of young box elders and cot
tonwooi IL garden. II ruomy stock yard. and
the sod roofs OF many sheds for poultry. stock.
and machinery; but except for a wreath of
smoke or the chance reelection of a window
pam. the dwelling would bc overlooked.
Il il often of the half-dugout half-sOdhouse
order of architecture, the back part followed
out of the side Of u low hill, and the front & OF the
squares Of sod, merely placed together and all
upheld by a slight frame of wood. with u door
aud one or two window castings, and perhaps q
few rafters overhead. II is very small and low
and serves the single purpose of shelter. There
Is a possibility even of its failure in this. and
the trapduor aslart 1T one side OF the house pro-
tacle for milk and butter.
Life in one OF these prairie dwellings is yer-
closer, perhaps. than the Arab tribes of the
desert: Who, ON the whole, observe more laws,
social derivation. To realize this, one has only
To fancy u man and wife in a sodhouse fifteen
sparsely settled districts OF western Ncbra, Ih.
For days. and in some seasons for weeks, Iney
houselo.d. Even begging Indians and ,rsm,i,s
are Sim.st uhknowh IN this country rra,;
towns ss aoSi in cast ths up u inHar aGsd"dT .p ana , .IUut
t tEGoupy iSSI ,hs g! s%P heirs ana an ,nt neld mice 5qrrow
auentIy snakes swing themselves down from the
rafters inside, or crawl in at the door to get At
any milk pans standing about. At night coyotes
aud some OF the gray wolves come up through
the canon and skuik about the poultry yard OF
howl close to the windows, Through he day.
usually falls 10 the wOman's lot. Probably each
takes y noon luncheon, in = paper, TO save coming
back to the house until night.
The woman attends To her necessary house
hold duties; throws a Sunny sack over her bron-
cos back. Jumps nstride. rounds up the cattle,
and drives them down the cahOns to graze on
the steep sides, or In a low strip beside a creek.
have a conception of the prtmeval unless he has
walked through a cahon. He thinks OF the dawn
and wonders II centaurs have not merely re-
tired into the inner caverns. What the sod
10 solitude like that II is hard To- tens
The MORTGAGE on the farm: diseases among
time when they can put up their frame dwell
lings, the hard, unadorned facts In the tread
work. work, work, which is her sole law OF sx-
istence., Perhaps she has memories OF another
vague and far away. Even tho weather Is
mono,onops; there + practically always tho
wind, that curls the leaves OF the young corn
and turns the buffalo grass brown.
women, and men, too, become withered and
prsmaturely old, Hair and skin take on the
general tint OF things about them. Their teeth
And there comes a certain feverisR look In their
eyes-a look Of intensified expectation, a strain
ing into the future. They lose all thought u
appearance II gets to mean vanity rather than
self-resDect 10 them. such a life must have ia
inevitable mental and moral effect. All the
sensitive, the aesthetic, sometimes the moral
sense itself, becomes atroPhied, The tragedies
the silent tragedies OF these desolate lives are
swallowed up and lost in the remoten4ss and in-
inshslly OF the prairie wastes.
taxes the claims and homesteads on the opening
mp OF a country lkV this. Ex-cOwbOys. who
have come Ia admit the claims OF a single wifo
anu FAMILY, confirmed pioneers, who move with
the advance OF railroads, people Uf refinement
anu IeNtfNes OI fortune. MANY l1uNHlun and AgeF-
man immigrants, and a sprinkling OF all the
ntlirr nations OF the earth. After the first rush
a sitting process sets in which soon separates
them into three classes: Those who stay
through everything and make the prosperity OF
ihe ,nqntry. the non-progressIre. who never get
Ianslthts who move al a sign Ot trouble and
come back in a time OF prosperity.
There Is, however, no sltting social process
during these first years. The SOdhOpse levels
al RANKS, and At the rare intervals when any Of
the people are brought together socially IL is on
terms uf perfect equality they simply AZ ons
another Tor granted, with no question OF ante
9ISdsnls family history, or social advantages.
living On hopes Of the idture, win forgetfulnss
or III past sad endurance OF the present.
things la such u life than " man does IN NJ.
sIrnHE enough mentally and physically. 10 en-
lives out her allotted time nnprSissd and unrr,
"arded Of this world. II she has q mSntai 81,
tosard the morbid or ~mslAnrholy. she l. M
In !hs hOspitAl for the insane al Lincain.
ne real pioneers. sho survive everything in
ated some advantages for Their chliitrn ury
lave nNed Ia lhe sndhOnse uhtil the scar n =
800 s.'p shd lev household necessiiis- g. 10
cottage built, The neKt ssason' hi good fortune
sohllhnss. = porch and an Il are Edded. and %
W Often the ia s6dkoass s isT Standing
hear ths hsw one for come paFposs. o. somslmS
- uAt.sE u sshumssL