St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1908-07-31
and THEY CAME WEST
The Heat and Chiseers Response.
bic for their Leaving the East


here from the Eastern states. Many
more would come il they could only
realize the benefits to be derived IN
making the change:
Whoa! Come around, Net,e
Whoa. The mares adjusted them
elves to a new row of corn and the
"tongueless' cultivator partially
collapsed. John Doe shook the
last years corn stalks out OF the
shanks of his plow and then sat
down on the left hand beam OF IL
and famed himself with his old
straw hat. The sweat had wet ev-
cry thread on his body, but the hot
wind had since dried it up till he
looked like a smoked herring. But
il was different with the mares; the
water was running down their legs
in little rills and dropping oil their
flanks until tiny puddles were form
ed between the clods, some OF the
latter being turned up as large as
small dishpans. The animals sides
vibrated like bellows while their
nos,rils dilated like the horn OF a
grs phophone. The corn leaves
were curled up like cigars, and the
heat shimmered in great sheets over
the field. John muttered to him
self. 1T takes weak mind and a
strong back to make a living at this
kind of a job" and concluding nc
had had enough of II for one day
he unlocked his team and went III
to dinner.
Getting his team put up he went
in to look up the prospects Tor
something to eat and found them
very poor. His wife was stretched
out in the hammock; the express on
of agony upon her face was pitia'
bic. She was almost dead from
sufioca,ion after tanning the baby
to sleep. The poor little fellow had
dropped off at last from Sheer ex'
haustion. and the mother was put
ting up losing fight against the
heat and the flies. II was hard to
tell from which she suffered most.
John was too tired and warm to
want much, so he rustled cold
bite. Then he went ont and spread
himself upon the grass to enjoy the
heat and flies and chiggers. You
don't know what a chigger is'
Well, its little red insect the size
OF pinhead that gets under the ep'
idermis aud raises a lump that
i,ches like a m'ser's hand to get
hold of another dollar. The grass
in the corn belt is lousy with CHG
gers, aud they're so soothing to the
baby.
For half an hour John Doe sat
and scratched and fought flies with
newspaper and finally remarked
in language that would not look
well here: II wish was in Hall
fax or Hades or Alaska, or some
other place any old place would
beat this" From his own misery
he turned with hollow eyes to that
of his wife and child. He finally
glanced at the newspaper for the
| first time, and his eye fell upon the
appalling headlines; Eight drop
ped dead from heat IN Chicago
| -Four deaths from too high temper
ature in Kansas City Six Sun
Strokes in ST. Louis" Good
Lord! wonder ii il will be our
turn nextr' And closing his fe'
vered eyes he contemplated upon
the misery of another terrible night,
rolling from one side OF the bed to
the other, without stitch OF cloth
ing, turning the pillow over once a
minute, vainly trying to lind a cool
place for the fevered cheek.
Once more his eyes tell upon the
paper. His gaze bleared with sweat
as he traced column after column,
and at last fell upon this paragraph;
Temperature on the Pacific coast
only normal" What He brac-
ed his spine up against a tree aud
drank in every word; "Sixty-eight
at Portland, ore; Is at Seattle; 70
Spokane; o5 at Hood River; 6I at
White Salmon"
"Sixty.one at White SalmonW
shouted John, and he woke up the
baby aud made his wife almost tall
out of the hammock. is the heat
making YOU erazyl" asked Mrs,
Doe. mo, hut it will il stay
here much longer" and giving his
wife the weather column to read he
made bolt for his old geography
that the baby had almost worn out
looking at the pictures. He hunted
up Hood River and White Salmon
ON the Columbia river, between
Mt. Hood and Mt, Adams, in the
Cascade range; both mountains over
"a 900 feet high and both covered
with perpetual snow. Hood River
os, White Salmon o." he mnr-
INJURED. John Doe laid back on the
grass and buried himself for a mo-
ment in thought, Hank Smith had
offered him 81, 900 and agreed to as
sune the mortgage on the farm only
week ago, John pulled himself
together surprisingly fast and hiked
over to Hanks as swiftly as his
lank, overworked limbs woald carry
him. Say, Hank, YOU can have