Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-12-11
s1.5o PER ANNun.
LETTER FROM OUR GID.
He Tells About Lite In . ssShack''
and the Delights Of Cooking
with q Monkey Stove.


perience living on claim and to
those who contemplate doing so, II
may be interesting to describe . few
of the things person has to contend
with and still enjoy life.
| Perhaps the most interesting will
be the manner in which the houses
are built for greatest convenience.
After having been over the country q
great deal we find that about half Of
the houses are frame buildings and
the other half sod. As lumber has to
be freighted great distance by team,
making 1t very expensive, the houses
are usually necessarily Of very limited
dimensions, while the sod buildings
are somewhat larger. We find that
lOxl2 feet is the average size of
''shacks." They resemble box cars,
only smaller, as full sized car would
be too large for the average bachelor
to care for. We will only mention =
few of the advantages Of having
houses of this kind and let the reader
imagine the rest.
In the first place a "shack" has
many Of the modern conveniences of
a city dwelling, and perhaps more.
Under this one small convex roof Il
the kitchen, dining room, sitting
room, bed room, bath room, etc., and
there are no tiresome stairs to climb.
In fact the floor space does not cover
an area SO vast but that with q little
care a broom will last for an indefin-
ite time.
In order that all available space
may be put to other use during tho
day, beds are usually Of the let-down
or raise-Hp kind, but when either up
or down for the night displacement
of space is such that there Is not any
more room left than necessary, but
still there is as much as In any Pull
man sleeper.
The furniture is arranged In the
most convenient manner. In one cor
ner IS the stove, the table Is along
the side Of the wall about half way,
and In the other corner Is the cup
board. This arrangement Is most
satisfactory, as person can sit At the
table and reach the stove to ourn his
buckwheat cakes or reach into the
cupboard, an elaborate affair which
once may have held a few packages Of
|"Uneeda" biscuit.
1t would not do to forget the stove.
The stove that seems to be the uni
versal favorite is the monkey or
laundry stove. The manufacturers
must have fully realized the exact
needs OF the homesteader when they
constructed this necessity; III fact
after using one it would not be ex-
changed for the best steel range on
the market. The tw0-hoie size seems
to be the most In use, and II the
cooking utensils are not too elaborate
there Is plenty Of room for 8 teA
kettle and frying pan on top at once.
The fire pit is large enough 50 that IL
q person is not otherwise engaged 10
is easy to keep good fire with native
Ignite. The ash pot is q convenient
affair, as the ashes may be removed
with an ordinary shovel, Its capacity
being limited to about one shovelful.
Midway between the stove and the
ceiling is one Of those old-fashioned
heating drums or rather cylindrical
shaped affair called an oven. They
are certainly wonders. AS for quick
bakers they are unexcelled They are
such good bakers that in order to
properly manipulate one y person has
to use care constantly to prevent
burning, as they are not provided
with thermometer like the, "Kala-
mazoo-direct-to-you.kind. With :
little practice and steady nerve . per-
son can insert pies and other deli
cacies, but it takes something Of :
contortionist to remove them right
side up.
The limits of "shack" Is not en-
couraging to men who issue marriage
licenses nor to young man with
sweetheart somewhere, hence the
bachelor list in this country changeth
but little, but when the boys prove
up there will be something doing in
matrimonial lines but not for GID.