The Washington herald., 1915-10-03

Yes. and you have spent five year.
Of your life"
"Oh, well, I've had experience any
way. l know now that it's no use Il
| feel bad If you don't get crop"
That's the other side of the picture
| The life of the small farmer in the
! Canadian Northwest is not an attrac'
tive one. The chances are that he lives
ell alone in a one-room shack. with a
dirt floor, and the only furniture a
rough bunk at one end, a cooking
stove, a packing box for a table, an
other for a washstand. with tin wash
basin on it. and his trunk. His stock
If he has any is much better housed
and cared for and fed, for the small
rancher's food is the coarsest. sim.
plest. and dirtiest imaginable. A self
respecting dog wouldn't live the way
those small farmers do. Probably
there is no other human being for
miles and miles. and nothing to look
at but a flat and unending prairie.
No wonder these farmers complain
that they can't get wives-that is, it's
TO wonder they can't get wives, but
it is wonder that they complain that
the young women have all become cttt-
fed and won't stay on a farm unless
they are staked out on the prairie.
They call it getting hitched up" On
the train I was on were three young
farmers from up in Saskatchewan. who
We're on their way to Winnipeg to try
and find some one to hitch up" with.
For the girls sake I hope they didn't
succeed.
I doubt if the average small farmer
in the United States would be content
to put up with the prtvations and
hardships they have to in the Canadian n
Northwest They would sooner be in
Jail.
Another thing that the Canadian farm
ers all went daffy about and which they
are beginning to regret now Is the trac-
ton engine. They are absolutely neces-
.sary and a great saving on large farms.
but on little farms they are simply silly.
The fever for traction engines spread
over the country like an epidemic or
course. the big farmers had them and so
the little fellows thought they had to
have them also. So they went IN deot
for the rest of their natural lives to buy
them and now find that 1t would be much
more economical and convenient to use
horses A man with only a quarter sec
ton has about as much right to trac-
ton engine as he has to a 42-centimeter
gun. Fortunately. the small farmers
have walked up at last and the traction
engine fad has seen its day.
I said the main topic Of talk was
wheat. but Of course I except the war.
Winnipeg I found overrun with soldiers
and little but war in the peoples minds
and conversation. A few miles west Of
Winnipeg We passed through big mill
tary camp-Camp Sewen-where 10000
men were waiting to be sent overseas to
fight for the mother country.
1t was the first big military showing
1 had seen in the trip across the conti-
nent. as in Calgary. Regina, and Van
couver there are comparatively few SOL
diers and much less enthusiasm. But in
Winnipeg the military spirit pervaded
everything. It shut down on US tight
1t was easy to realize that you were in
a country that was at war. Every
stranger was looked at askance and ar
rests for espionage were frequent. while
aliens who were supposed to be in SYM
pathy with the enemy were hustled of to
detention camps without any ceremony.
We passed a trainload of them heavily
guarded by soldiers with fixed bayonets.
and they were certainly an unhappy
looking lot Of folks.
A young reporter from Winnipeg
paper who came to interview me had
just got out Of the clutches Of the mill
tary authorities. Although he was an
American citizen and came from st. Paul
he had a German name and had been
week to separate himself from the
charge. He didn't like Winnipeg and
wanted to go to New York.
There was considerable political ex-
citement In Manitoba, two royal COM
missions being busy investigating the
two political parties, both the ins and
the outs 1t was a decidedly unique sit
uation to have the men in office under
going an investigation by the people they
had supplanted. Well. all this gave rise
to rumors of scandals in the cutfitting
Of the troops. complaints Of red tape in
furnishing supplies and an actual lack
of clothing to keep the soldiers warm or
clean. Thousands OF them, it was claim
ed, were destitute of change Of shirts
or socks. That there was some founda-
ton for this rumor there is no doubt. As