Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-12-24

himself ready, he glanced about him
| for the days provision which the
woman Of the house-"Her," that Is
wife. mother, sister, daughter, some
times granddaugnter--had put aside
for him. Always on the low white
| wood dresser" in front of the array
of blue willow pattern plates, 1t stood.
1t consisted of bundle, large but
pocketable. wrapped in squared nap
kin, generally of alternate blue and
rarely red and white and knotted in
particular way
Love and prayers, hopes and fears
especially fears, were tied up with
each knotting.
81 will curse God and die If my joan
does not come back" was the memoir
able speech of one woman, John Hoo's
Cornish wife, No. 6 in block Ca con-
verified woman, and a .classleader Ana.
| if Mary Hoo spoke thus, what was one
| to expect of those others of fainter
Hight and lesser leading?
The bundle made large lump in
each mans right-hand coat pocke..
But the dinner can, filled with tea or
soup. swung openly and independently
in each left hand, as the father of the
family opened his door and took his
way into the fresh GOODNESS of the
summer morning The night dews had
partly laid the dust-or rather caked
the surface which the sun would soon
dry up again, long before the feet Of
the little ones began to paddle abroad
in tne first Injuries of a morning dust
bath.
~ C;v1-4 al
| SO in thousand mining towns. Even
the children there are taught not to
shout and scream across the street
| like other children. The very babes
! learn not to cry--because the bread
winner Is taking his rest for the next
shift, and must on no account be dis
turbed There are times in the not
MONDAY when the windows are dark
when not even the minister calls. The
sleep OF the laboring man is a sacred
taing. So it ought to be always The
men go to work The women stay at
home They work They wait. AS
soon as the ladies leave school.
they follow their fathers down the
mine. That is their vocation. They
have never thought of doing anything
them-eXcept that straight piece Of
dusty road between two dustier
hedges which conducts them from the
little red kitchen in block G, to the
hole in the ground. down which a
great cage of iron dives necessarily.
Little sentiment is wasted on than
outgoing.
We'll. wife, I'm avail" is about the
extent of it, And even this is felt to
be stretching a point. True some Of
the younger men take a look at wife
and BARNS before they sally forth, be-
cause all who win the coal or send up
| the iron must run this risk-that he
who goes out may never return alive.
The hand which closed the door in
the morning may not open it again
in the evening, at the time wnen the
| freight glows red and the lamps are
being lit No head is held so high at
the outgoing but there Is a chance
! that its owner may be brought back
| foot-first. with that terrible look of
| limp helpnessness which the human
body takes upon the carrying stretch
ers that are kept in readiness at all
| pit-heads.
But this fifth of September was a
| great day In the history OF No, Z pit
1t was but seldom that they had visit
tors down there Never before had
that visitor been woman. But tnat
Gay Vida had determined to go down
After many pleadings from Dick
Finnan that she should come and see
him at his work-in his position of
authority-a centurion of the dark,
having under him men, able to say
| this one come" and he came, and
to that other go and he went! Or
this pleasure Dick nad dreamed of
| long and often.
But behind Dicks simple hearted
petitions another spirit moved-that
of the Ghetto-Serb Kahn. He had per-
suaded himself, as indeed most of the
village had done that it was for the
sake of Vida Bryan that Ludovic Nor
| ris remained SO long in KirktoWn. AS
| for his keeping away from the cottags
by day-why. that was Kahn's own