The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-12-03
ONE OF THE 4OOSPEAKS
Tells the Story of Her Separa-
ton From Her Husband.
It Was Impossible For Him to
Get Work
So He Went Away How She is Left
Alone With Two Small Children
Poverty's Miserable Tale.

In a little deserted looking frame house
Of two rooms. east of the Missouri Paci-
ne tracks, lives one Of Topeka's 400 de-
serted wives. She is there alone with
her two children. a bright little girl of
z and a boy Of >.
In one Of the rooms she eats and
sleeps and washes and cooks. The other
is to cold for her to live in since she has
but one small stove, and that is broken.
Almost no plastering is on the ceiling
and ia places the window panes are
pieced out with rags and newspapers.
NO carpets soften the tread upon the
floor nor keeps from surging up through
the cracks the wind that blows beneath
the house.
Her sole companions are her two small
children.
To a Journal reporter she told her sto-
~ today while the children played
about the house with a piece of 4 flag
and an old coffee pot, their only play
things. They We're exceedingly well be-
haved children and bore the manner
and obedience of careful raising by an
Intelligent woman
And her conversation was intelligent.
The case was not selected one 1t
was taken at random as an average
case of the deserted wife among what
people call the humber walks OF life.
This was the story of her girlhOod,
her marriage and her desertion, and as
her eyes at parts of it,
III was q farmers daughter, near
little college town. she said II was
the youngest or the family My father
owned mis- farm and we were accounted
well to do When was about years
old father concluded he would move to
town where he would have better op-
portunity to educate his children
"He bought a little property there.
and we were put, some OF us, into the
public school. and some into the col
lege. Tn time father died. The renters
on the farm did not DO Wen after that
and mother was unable to manage i'd
advan ageOusly- One Of my older sis
tiers married and moved away, and
things were in about this condition
when I met Jim He was a farmer boy
as I had been a farmer girl, and we
loved each other. / was but IL, but
mother felt that we needed another man
in the family 10 help look after things.
as brother was not much given to. that
sort of thing, and Jim and were mar
ried as soon as We could Well be- think
we were engaged about year.
Payments on the town place became
due and had to be met, and as there had
been practically no income from the
farm for several years, she mortgaged
it to help pay for the town property
Jim and and my brother took
charge of the farm. We did the best
we could with it, and at least Jim and
were happy. Two little ones came to US
these.
Brother didn't seem to have the in
terest in the place that Jim had, and al
most before we knew lit the place had
been sold under the hammer to satisfy
the mortgage and other claims.
Brother left for the west Mother
and my unmarried sister remained in
the little town and got along as best
they could Jim got some little work to
do about the country, but il wasn't al
ways steady and, while good enough
for single man. the SIS to SIS q month
was hardly enough for four of US
Jim got discouraged and sulen and
so was A. Perhaps we We're cross some
times with each other; not that one ever
blamed the other with anything, but
you know how short words are spoken
sometimes when minds are elsewhere.
Finally Jim got it into his head that
If he could get to some bigger town,
where there was plenty of work for
somebody, he could get at least his share
of it, We hao one team left. so we sold
what household goods we had that we
didn't absolutely need, loaded the rest
into the wagon and came to Topeka.
THAT was year ago last summer
Work has never been plenty here. Last
winter we seldom knew from day to day
how we were going to live. We never
asked for charity, though some of the
neighbOrs helped US several times 9th
erwise, I don't know what would have
become of US.
1--WE We're changed about in our small
living places by reason of failure to pay
rent Horses decreased in prices and
feed went up and finally we had to sell
the team and wagon for a little or moth
ing last winter to get enough to live
on.
Last spring and the early part of the
summer Jim seemed unable to get work.
1t got so we seldom spoke to each 9th
Ell, except in brief sentences, and finally
one day last August. after q few hot
words in which I told Jim what L would
do if I was man, Jim started out in
the country to ind work on foot.
II haven't seen him since, nor heard
II af, ,o+ i v-o,v- -4.-,,.. --.,