The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-10-17
Another Western Letter.

Queens Hotel, Winnipeg.
September "a, 1905
1t does not seem three weeks ago as
look back upon it that sat here writing,
on my trip up into Canada Yet three
weeks are almost up and l am hustling
back to Sheldon before my ticket expires.
The time has gone very rapidly and very
pleasantly and it was with genuine regret
that turned my back upon what has been
a very novel experience to me. The peo-
pie were very kind to me and did all they
could to help me have good time despite
the fact it was harvest time and they were
quite busy. Particularly the women folks.
Life there is very hard upon the women
In the house. There is no variety, no
neighbors, only continual grind of house
hold duties that are very trying because
the scale on which farming is done, even
greater than in Iowa, makes large num-
of hired men necessary and they are
usually rough and heavy eaters. l used
to think the crew of the Mary Grey a
schooner that went ashore at Sea Side
Park two years ago] while they were
boarding at Haag's at Sea Side Park, ate
more than it was humanity possible to ex-
coed. But when ! saw Galician eat four
large potatoes, in addition to the rest of
his meal and then reach for more, con-
cluded that the human system was won
derful thing.
Just as l left they were expecting a
gang of twenty to assist in the harvest
ing:and thrashing. They let them sleep
in the barn, but they feed them in sections
in the house. They began the thrashing
Just before left so had chance to see
how it was done. 1t is on a scale as big
as everything else is run. Lamson has a
traction engine and separator as part of
his equipment and one of his men is a
licensed engineer. They fired up the en-
CINE and hauled the separator into the
fields. Four teams carted the sheaves to
the thrasher aud four men pitched them
into the self feeder as fast as they could
make their arms go. The grain was de-
liVered at the end of spout into wagons in
measured half bushels, while the straw
and chaff were blown from another spout
and piled thirty feet away. This is kept
up from six in the morning until eight at
night, when it grows too dark to see, with
only short interval for lunch which is
served in the field. As result they turn
out from two thousand to three thousand
bushels per day. was interested to see
them burn straw in the engine. 1t kept
one man busily employed to do the firing.
He would stick one forkful under swing
ing door into the firebox and by the time
he had turned and gathered another fork
full the fire would be ready for it.
spent one day in Yorkton with Lam
son who had gone there to get some re-
pairs to a binder blade. While there /
saw a great number of Doukhobors, an
ignorant lot of fanatics, much oppressed
in Russia and brought to Canada by some
American philanthropists. If they are
fair sample of the Russian peasantry l
should say that that country would be
ready for representation in the government
about the time of the millennium. They
have settlement just outside of Yorkton
and provide the most steady and produc-
tive source of amusement to the citizens.
The men, for the most part, wear the
clothes of this country, very rough, ragged
and dirty, long-haired and profusely be-
close kin to the soil. The wo-
men are not so progressive. They cling
to the clothing of the native land. except
to the shoes, when the approach of winter
removes shoes from the list of luxuries
The women are quite as frowsy and dirty
as the men and they look as though they
might easily qualify for another adjective
which rhymes with ''frowsy" They tie
their heads up in bright colored cloth
which covers all but the face and is
knotted under the chin. The rest of the
person down to about the knee is covered
with long coat on much the same cut as
The women were wearing in the East
year or two ago with a fare from the
waist into the skirt. This is made of
fleece inside. The tanned hide
picks up and holds dirt very readily.
The skirt stops where the coat ends, but
stockings are worn, and they are usually
down around the ankle revealing a skinny
leg very much the same color as the
sheepskfn coat. Men and women alike
walk down the middle of the street, Civ
ing the sidewalks wide BERTH
Every once in while a notion strikes
the community that it is wrong to wear
clothes, so they all come into town and
discard their clothing in the street. They
always come into town for this form of
After getting rid of their
clothing they dance around in decidedly
chilly atmosphere, keeping this perform
ance up until the mounted police can
round them up and persuade them to
again don their clothes. 1t seems to me
that a sure cure for this form of idiocy
would be to keep their clothes until the
frost had a chance to work into the crust.
then think they would look upon their
buds in different light. But they are al
ways breaking out in new place.
Once they took notion to eat nothing
but hay and grass, so they carted out all
their provisions and destroyed them This
experiment nearly starved them to death.
At another time they concluded it was
wicked to use horses and other animals,
and they turned their stock out on the
prairie and hitched the women to the
wagons and ploughs. Yorkton was cleo
trifed one day at the spectacle of twenty
in sort of harness, hauling a
load of grain into town. Investigation
revealed the state of affairs and the police
again interfered, but not until the women
were completely tagged out
Among other things in which Canada
surprised me was the presence of fieas.
There were fully as many as there were in
Florida, and they certainly did themselves
credit on me. We had two beautiful au-
roras while was up there, more magnifi-
cent than any had ever seen. We also
had ice several lines Pole cats are nu-
merous. frequently saw them when out
hunting. but as never felt any need of
them ands as they let me alone we got
along first rate.
Yours truly,
n