Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-07-07
Letter From Thorsten Hotter.
Cheney, Washington,


ssL LEADER: The triumphant march OF
sS 'Old Boreas'' has been checked. The
h chill and grim monarch of the arctic
north has been conquered and sHo-
a dued by it's adversary, "Old Sol,
marching from the south with his
conuuering forces of irresistible mel
aow sunbeams and the grim old tyrant
sfrom the arctic seas has been forced
Ito retreat to his camp at the pole.
From my safe position on the sun
8Rissed slopes" of Southern California
4I saw the battle from afar and fol-
lowed north to Portland, Oregon, ana
with comfort and pleasure still farther
north up among the snow covered
nine and cedar clad mountains OF
3British Columbia, then turned
ssouthward again and have for the
hast five weeks been enjoying the IN
syiporating ozone of Washlngton's
breezes, carrying the order OF pine.
Spruce and cedar and family, yes very
faintly, hint of the far away sea.
NV uncle, M. i. Hotter. lives here
in Cheney and that explains why L
Hlhappened to drift in here. My uncle
Senioys fairly good health and still FOL
lows the carpenter trade although ne
As well advanced in years. MY cousins,
sNorman, Martin and Matte, also live
In Cheney, and are doing we'll Mat
d tie Is happily married to one of Che
news shire WIDEST business men and Is
the proud mother of future Washing
ton statesman. Norman and Martin
both hold lucrative positions as clerks
with mercantile firms here, and as Tor
myself, ] have been In the employ OF
Il the Cheney Transfer Co.
sa Cheney is thrifty little town on
6sthe N. p r. r. about l6 miles south
s5spf Spokane. 1t is at present dry
stoWn: has several churches, a good
high school and we'll attended state
normal. An electric car line connects
Cheney with Spokane, with cars leav-
ling and arriving at convenient inter-
walls.
I'D When l laid aside my pen at the
sconclusion of my letter written to
You from Los Angeles, California, |
had been telling you OF my trip
through Texas and Oklahoma, and of
Some of my experiences in these cot
ton growing states and to continue
the narrative as promised l would
do, must write of events which took
place year ago.
I@ l don't seem to be travelling so very
sfsst but somehow or other l seem to
get way ahead of my letter writing
sSBy the time you get to read this let
N'ter, it will be nearly a year since l
started at the job of juggling the
bundle fork, working with the pitch
ling crew of an Oklahoma threshing
'aouttit.
III Wheat and oats, the main products
Tin the small grain line in Oklahoma,
made a fair yield last year. During
sthe month that ] was with this
3threshing machine we threshed out
siof shock altogether. never did carry
a4any great amount of supert1uous fat
2sabout on my person and after the hrst
Two or three days work with the
SAottchfork under broil!ng Oklahoma
sun, told myself that here Is where
Ill will get a chance to part with some
sayoirdupois which ! could not well
afford to spare, but although worked
along steadily day after day, from
sun to sun, the mercury In the ther-
mometer courting the 100 mark, the
wind so that at times that it would
have blistered ones face had it not
lsspre eviously, on the plains Of Texas,
sgbeen introduced to "Old Soils" art
brush, vet l did not loose In weight,
!Ssbut on the other hand | gained. !
drank gallons OF water every day.
Some old man or kid was kept busy
all day long with horse and buggy
Asbringing fresh cold water around to
Sthe men pitching out in the field and
Ito the men working around the sep
arator. l hardly ever drank less
athan a quart at time and the water
sssboy generally made the rounds every
30 minutes. And talk about sweat
ding! For days at time we would
ssaslOU nave o. OIy SUiUOlA Oh Jul OoNAO,,
The briny ooze from our bodies would
Z sHll our shoes and run out at the tops
The crew generally slept out around
the separator My partner and / had
a tarpaulin or wagon cover and bed
blanket and cover with US but we
hardly ever used any covering. We
simply spread the wagon cover over
some straw on the ground and with
# scarcely any covering over us, slept
but in the open all night. With our
pipes aglow and squatted upon our
swiftly made beds. the crew would
bass away couple of hours before 60
ang to sleep, In swapping stories josh
& Sne and bantering each other.
Then again they would lapse into
silence, the while gazing up at the
be jeweled canopy above them, each
one occupied with thoughts OF his
\ own, and most of the crew were made
Il ss2 2Sup of fellows who had lived In the
y S2neighborhood for years. l was about
sthe only stranger among them but we
were all the best Of friends in a short
while however When they found
5ssss ,& eto+ 7 l,od hoan knocking around