The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1910-10-07

$50 with us can be had for $40 here.
The farm housewife of France is
good housekeeper. Order, system and
cleanliness are to be seen in every
home. She is the best cook the world
has yer produced. The bread she
bakes is Joy forever. Besides caring
for and doing the work of the home,
the wife and daughters do much in
the garden and about the dairy. The
poultry is always cared for by them.
The women more often milk than the
men.
French Character.
The farmer of France is more a
Roman than a Teuton, and more a
Greek than either. The world has yet
to produce a man with more self pride
or greater urbanity than the ancient
Greek, while the Roman of ancient
times was cold, distant and dignified
in manner. Then, again, the farmer
here resembles the ancient Greek in
his hero worship. | do not wish to be
understood as saying that the French
farmer still worships Apollo, Achilles,
Fama, Venus. Jupiter, or any other of
the NEUROLOGICAL gods of the ancient
Greeks, but they do practice hero wor-
ship just the same, and the effect of
this worship is excellent in the way
of setting a high standard for every
human act. If one farmer produces a
nj hn ic oh
iect of worship. If he is known to
have made a better sale of any farm
product; to have discovered q new
process of any value to his state, or if
he eXCels over his fellows in any way,
he is regarded as hero just as much
as was he who risked his life upon the
plains of Marathon.
The home life of these farmers is
simple, yet beautiful in the extreme
The husband is always courteous to
the wife, and kind, even indulgent to
the children. The children are affec.
the parents and the aged. There is
close companionship noticed in these
families seldom seen elsewhere. The
wife is an asset invaluable to every
family She has few equals anywhere
in sIe world. | wish the Nebraska
legislature would compel every bach
elor in the state to import one of
them. No social scandals are heard
here, no divorces, no want of faithful
ness, but in their stead the truest
faithfulness and confidence. True, it
is that the world of this wife and
mother is not large, but it is an ideally
happy one. Her world is her home
and her children. Nor is there any
fear of race suicide here so far as the
farmer is concerned In more than a
hundred farm homes | have visited
the question, "How many children
have you?' has been asked at every
home. The smallest number reported
was two, and this in young family, |
the parents being under 80 years of
age. Nine children in one family has
been reported twice, and eight three
times. Here is a fact vital to the life |
of the republic, which has been over
looked by tourists and students alike.
City life in France is senile, while
country life is virile in the extreme.
The country is supplying the state
with all its life and vitality, while the
cities are destroying both.
The military system of the French
people is heavy burden upon the
farmer. He not only pays the larger
part of it's cost, but most of the re-
cruits must come from the young life
of the farms. The young men of the
cities seldom pass the physical exam
ination required of them, while nearly |
every farmers son will pass. This
makes it necessary for the farmer to
furnish both funds and men, very |
severe and unjust tax. But here as at
home it is the farmer that has the
money. In most districts the farmers
own their farms in fee simple title, |
and free of debt. This land is worth |
from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre. Every
farmer has a savings account, and
some of the worlds best securities are
owned by them.
The American Tourist.
have met Americans here every |
day since my arrival, and in all parts
of France. Some of them are here as
tourists merely, others are on bust |
ness. So far as gaining valuable in
formation, the American is the poor
est traveller in Europe. ] have yet to
meet an American here who could |
give one any information of value con-
corning the country or people he has
seen. He is quick enough to see the
trivial and superficial things, but never
those things of vital Importance to
the worlds intelligence. l met one
man here from Iowa who is regarded |
as an authority at home upon agricul- |
tural subjects, and yet he could not |
answer a single question as t. the
SOIL crops or markets of France, after
touring the country for more than two |