Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1911-04-04

TO marry, she uUfeu 10 mahS ACASc1
useful in some particular. way. 1t
| wasn't best. she said. that all the wo-
men should be married. What would
the world do without The old maid
/ aunties? told her that l had hus-
band. Que of her own countrymen.
picked out for her. but she declared
| that | must permit her 10 remain sin
| gle.
| OF course the day of our arrival was
a gala day ut Nelson. | was obliged
to transport my cargo some twenty
miles from the railroad and hired all
manner OF vehicles for the purpose
| The population met us mile from
| the town and escorted US. marching
| beside the wagons. to the recently
| erected cabins The men behaved
themselves much better than could
have been expected. Indeed, their
| condition of barbarism was but lapse
from responsibility.
| Do you know that some matches
| were made on the road before reach
| ing the town? But ] had cautioned
the girls TO go slow and not marry
| any man without at least two days
| courtship. They all agreed to this.
| and there was not wedding until
| forty-eight hours after our arrival.
That time was scarcely up when there
were dozen. The truth Is there were
no villains in my town. because as
| soon as / had discovered that man
| was inherently bad had fired him. |
| was surprised to see that as soon as
| the women arrived the men began to
| slick up. Razors made their appear
ance, and the long, scraggly locks were
| cut down. The second day after the
women's coming noticed several men
| in boiled shirts.
On the night of the feminine entry
| not a gambling shanty was doing any
business, and. although their earnings
picked up later on, they received their
deathblow. On the evening of the
womens arrival the men were all Wis
iting and mating and from that time
forward continued their visits till all
the women had left the cabins and
they were as deserted as the gambling
holes.
The Swedish woman, Lena Erickson.
either was not chosen or had declined
any offer she might have received. She
was but twenty eight and good look
| ing, and don't doubt 1t was her own
fault that she did not become a wife.
She busted herself In helping the
young wives make their homes. many
of whom were very young and had
| little idea of fixing up house. Lena
| would take hold of a brides residence
| and in half a day transform it from
bare walls and floors into a human
| habitation. The floor would be at least
| In part covered and the windows
would be draped. Some of these things
Lena did herself. others she showed
/ the young wives how to do. Then she
would have the husband digging In the
| yard and flowers would be set out.
We were all so busy that took no
| thought for my intention Of bringing
| my man Hendrickson and Lena Eric
son together. Indeed. she was serving
| so valuable a purpose as single wom-
an that abandoned my plan. AS soon
as the women arrived ! sent Hendrick-
| son away to stock up in lot OF
articles that their presence rendered
requisite. 1t was my intention to set
| him up as proprietor of dry goods
store. Then ii struck me that as such
he would need woman's assistance
| badly, If indeed she would not be the
| real manager. So as soon as he re-
| turned i told him l had wife for
him, and since he had lost the girl he
had loved he would better marry the
one l had selected. He sighed and said
| that If | thought best he would con-
| sent, though it was evident be did so
| reluctantly. i left him to propose my
plan to Lena. She positively declined.
l argued with her for awhile, but
| finding l could not move her l told
| her that I wished her to become one
| of the managers Of the dry goods store.
and to this she gladly consented.
| The next morning summoned Hen
erickson and Lena to meet me at my
| house that we might together lay
plans for the establishment of the
| store. Hendrickson arrived first. and
| / was discussing the business matter
with him when the door opened and
Lena Ericsson came in.
| The two stood looking at each other
as IL wonder stricken for a moment,
| then rushed into each others arms.
| "Lenaw
| "Olaf!"
As soon as they were quieted down
| they explained to me that Lena was
| the girl Hendrickson had left In Swe-
| den. She had saved some money. just
| enough to take her to New York. and,
| knowing that her lover was some
where In the west, had awaited herself
of my transportation to get farther In
her quest.
| That's the end of my story, gentle
men, except to add that the rascally
civil engineers of the two railroads
had staked them out where they were
not intended to cross for the purpose
of secretly buying up the property
where they were intended to cross.
But cur town was not left out In
the cold. The power Of the softer
sex having been demonstrated, made
up my mind to find out what the wom-
en- of Nelson could do In saving US
from that fate. I picked cut several Of
the best Of them and sent them. head
ed by Mrs. Hendrickson, to the gen
eral Offices of the roads to tell the
story of the salvation of the men Of
Nelson | sent by them letter cor
roborating any statement they might
make. giving picture of what the
town was before they came and what