Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-15
a typical Western Girl.

western girl (of Boise. Idaho), whose
lev eine .ii and energy are remarkable:
,;,,e i-illan-Your letter came at q
mr. .,o w" l was too busy to eat, drink
pana on, ~ came day or two before
CPD anu Nettie were quarantined for
scarlet fever: Nettie being the one that
Was sich with the fever Papa acting as
/ iii TO an'I peing the only office he could
| tin,a nray satisfaction, having, Il snort
snl,it pic se started To turn summer
! ohui. ol the second-story roof ANA
| b m"i Iii.S ms mind when half way down,
] tie interr r.iiuing his desccn- on a M.
| nj ,ihS position of which broke one or
ms ms, RPS. but in all probability sared him
| from breaking his neck
| Perhaps you did not know that we were,
anu arI YET, building a house. Well, we
are. fapa is the only carpenter so 1t
tiio.es aloiis Very, very slowly. | am IN
i Wl - alolher month will ''see its finish
M Ton nav peen camping out in ii since last
january, but 1t was pretty cold worse
| than tent would have been. Just as
| soon as the house becomes really hab-
ita 5 intend to take a few boarderS
cannot keep things as they should be
| htpt at nome, live halfway decent, ana
De gone all day, Notwithstanding the fact
,hat lor the last two or three years /
nant come pretty nearly getting a day >
| Woih LII at nome outside of . y. NJ. 10 ,
T. M. for instance, the other morn!hS
| put up twenty-five quarts of frult
| before coming down town, and | expect
10 carry my sixth comforter that ! nave
| naue curing my spare time of the lasl
| Two weeks, plus mattress. upstairs Win
| me tonisht, besides having canned on"
| huhured quarts of fruit. This was done
| during my spare time, before ana aiter
olilce hours, In two weeks, together WIN
! what cooking. sweeping ana WaSiiiilS
| that had to be done Made five kitchen
| aprons last night, Oct. IL.
| borrowed the money with which we
are building the house last fall, four
hundred dollars, to be paid back year
| from this month. If the position am
| now occupying lasts nine months L VIII
be All right, and the first thing propose
| to do when the mortgage is no more Is 10
| go to bed and sleep until | feel rested ana
not get up feeling as tired, if not more
tired, than when | went to bed, me Wy
| nave been feeling every morning lot
| about Two years. 1 am getting so Il
| month. with no responsibility, something
| was ready and willing to creep out from
| under. Tor was beginning to feel as II /
| were forty or fifty years of age, had com
| pletcly given up the thought of matrl-
mony and had settled down Ito look after
| the children.'
| George, the little boy whom we thought
| would never grow. has suddenly taken
| root and is gradually creeping up past
| myself, SO much so that he has the au~
| dacity to call me his little sister Per.
maps 1t is due to the fact that he is, ana
| has been for four months, stenographer
| for the state engineer ID. w. Ross, relicv-
ing Mr.. Ross OF his duties on several oc-
| cas1onS. He is getting $50 Il month, with
| the understanding that he is to have tif
teen days of every month in which to
| do outside work. George first paid eff his
| tuition and will make a deposit on doc
tors bill that reminds him of having
| broken his arm last fall, while helping to
| build a she'd
Nettie, the one that was the baby. goes
| to school and does her best to see that
| | do not lie idle for the need of some
| one after whom to look.
! Will. the runaway, has just finished a
| visit to the Yosemite Valley, California.
He let here about a year ago, went to
| Portland, Oregon and then to California,
| encountering all sorts of hardships. hav-
! sometimes catching a ride" l expect
| he will soon be down in South America.
| He started out to see the world, hadn
| had enough of it, and | think he is get
| ting a very good comprehension of it.
have often wished, next to wishing for
| money, that l were boy, to pack my
| wardrobe in a red bandana and proceed
on railroad ties to satiate my abnormal
| desire to know the world. Wills health
| is much better than when here.
| The sample of dress goods was very
| pretty, and the ribbon you sent me came
in good time. wore it back to the office
| that noon. 1t was very, very pretty, and
| is yet for that matter.
| When l heard from you this summer. |
| wished very much to ask you out here
| away from the awful weather you were
1 having BACK tnere, Dut everything was In
| such a condition that life would have
| been next to impossible for you at oul
| residence, for we were all but eaten alive
by mosquitoes. The house being so far
from finished made it impossible to keep
| them out.
L recall you said something about dress.
| making and it reminds me of the fact
| that the dress l will wear this winter
| and two summer dresses are the only
new dresses l can remember ever having
20 fir,fr 1.
| sin for me to invest in my winter dress
| l hired ii made, because / could not fiji
it on myself. and | knew it would las:
much longer made up decently; for the
| way they are making dresses nowadays
| takes time and pate nce-thngs | seldom
| have for mysef-and | could not 90 Il
the office dressed -old-way. My dres,
| cost me $l1 all told.
AS soon as l get one more mattres.
| made, a dress and a Jacket made for
| Nettie, and a shirt waist for myself
am going to put my spare time in IN
| studying If | were to say that | am
only about one-eighth as far advanced in
wouldn't you? But that is just abou,
| where l am at present. | understand
arithmetic the theory and application OF
shorthand and the manipulation of the
insmore, Jewett Oliver, Hammond, Chi
caeo. New Century, Yost, Calligraph
Williams, etc.-I can bake, scrub, wash
| sew ana doctor, nurse the SICK and milk
| the COW, plant strawberries and canvass
| irrigate alfalfa, and make mattresses,
| plant trees, keep books and shoot rabbits.
| trim hats and strip onions (making from
! 1lfteen to twenty cents a day. repair
| typewriters. churn and repeat fifty ode
pieces of poetry, eat five dishes of ice
| cream straight, and wear the same dress
| from Dec. % to June s. play chess ana
quiet babies, reject proposals and climb
| trees; but what are all those wonderful
achievements compared, for instance
with that one ever-present, constant ter
! ror, spelling. Spelling has kept me back
| greatly IN my stenographic work. and
Kept me from taking other studies, that
| l thought | should give up. | do not be-
| deve you could realize where | was in
| spelling and what a time | have had to
advance as fir as l have. | studied.
studied. studied sat on a dictionary for
hours at a time; sang words, letter by let
| ter at time, for hours; studied it while
sewing, while washing, while soaking my
cornS Gas l have previously indicated
| this letter is for you to read; but all oi
no very marked avail. | still intend to be
a good speller, though. When? Oh. |
| do not know.
From one of your letters written to me
IN the colony, ! received the impression
that you labored under a delusion in re-
gard to the wild and barren features of
Idaho, and so send you pamphlet that
| may interest you
With love to all
HATTIE.