The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-03
9 90 900 COCO 90 80 .
!; PRAIRIE Settlers WIFE. !


Most of the Christmas presents in
the cabins of the settlers on the high
prairies of the west this year were
bought by the money earned and
saved by the patient. Woodworking
wives who have been learning the
secrets of gaining a few luxuries for
the home while their husbands were
experimenting with the climate and
politics. The heroine of the west is
the woman who has stood by the
struggling worker on the new lands
and has shared his burdens. She is not
honored enough, but she will be when
the full history of the plains is written
First she was the woman in the
prairie schooner, driving the tired
horses while the husband urged on the
still wearier cattle that were taken as
the nucleus of the herds to be- And
then she was the assistant farmer,
driving the sulky pillow and the eX-
pensive seIf-binder through the long
summer days-now she is the dis
coverer of the secret by which the
prairies are being made to produce less
of disappointment and more of joy.
She has learned the way out of the
ever-depresSing slough of debt and
helped the farmer to see how he can
become independent of the fitful rain
fall which is likely to fall just in the
days when it is needed most. She
coaxed the humble old COW into the
corner and induced it to give down the
fluid that when sold brought to the
family the necessaries of life. She
"shooed" the Eighty hen into a coop
and carried the eggs to market. She
brought out the resources of the
ai..,r oil -fr,cr 1,o
farmer.
Before the counter of a prairie town
bank the other day were ranged 16
men. each with check in his hand.
They were evidently from the claims
and farms, but each had a contented
look that told of some reward. Watch
ing them I saw each receive handful
of silver and bills. More came in, and
they, too, had checks.
Run on the bank?' was asked Of
the cashier.
No; milk day at the creamery
Are all those men getting their
money for milk?"
Every one. We are paying out this
month for one creamery a little over
$4,000 That is what is paying off the
mortgages in this county. You would
not think it, but out of the $500 heads of
LOO are taking to the creameries milk
from their COWS. They are receiving
on the average about so a month and
some receive as high as 800. The
creameries of the county pay out
something like $26O,OO0 this year, and
that means a good deal, does it not?
In the old days when we had a failure
of crops we had to wait for the next
harvest, but now this business goes on
every month in the year and is grow
ing more important all the time. The
women do a great deal of the work,
too
He was right Going out to the
creamery early in the morning, the
teams may be seen coming in with
their loads of milk. About half of
them are driven by the farmers wives,
and it is safe to guess what part of
the milking was done by the same
hands - earlier in the morning. The
development of the business would
have been impossible without the as
sistance of the farmers wife. She
was the first to realize the Importance
of it all. and she exemplified the pos
sibilities that lay in the little things
before the husband was aware of it,
He thought that the way to prosper
ity was by putting out big crops. and