The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-08-01
"V|"
A WAR TIME IDYL.


From the Continental Edition Of the Lon
don Mail.
The English country side had q new
sensation when the hay baling lasses
came along with their train of artillery
and parked It under the elms beside the
oif fragrant o hay stack; train r,r..
the putting tractor. then the baler
yelled in green tarpaul!n. q truck. and
tho house on wheels. With the martial
maids were three or four soldiers re-
leased for work On h land. The men
brought q gathering service wagon,
drawn by q pair Of mules
Tractor and baler entered the mead
ow and took up action positions. The
house on wheels remained outside at a
corner of the road where 1t was out
of the way of traffic. Covers were
stripped, tn band from the fly wheel
adjusted to h driving band of the
baler,~ and h engine stocked afresh,
and then the smoked and legginged
land girls, Dianas In physique and all
pretty attacked the stacks
Very soon they had flung UP a big,
loose heap Of hay at the side Of the
baling machine and were ready to start
It up. With q whirl and rhythmic pull
sation the work began. Up and down
went the beam, its energetic nose ram
ming the hay tight into the box. while
from below emerged a steady stream
Of neatly wired bales passing along a
platform.
Meanwhile another girl had set up
the weighing beam, like q see-saw on a
tripod. 1t swung the bales lightly off,
with q touch Of q girls hand. A marvel
OF leverage 1t Is. n the means, by the
way, for a quiet lark. FOR one Of the
lads. seeking an easy rssurn from the
stack IN fhA VnorhfnA Arn0 hfpnua1f
across the longer end Of the beam.
Chloe know her job. laughing. she de-
pressed her end Of the stick, and high
In the air rose the figure in khaki:
mademoiselle swung thu steelyard
round on the swivel, and let her lad
down gently just where he wished to
alight. All through the hours of pleas
their forks. feeding the hungry ma
chine, n the lads loaded the bales.
1t was the idyll of this new, strange
world. a quaint product Of war. q
mingling Of the, martial and the pas
toral; very curious, but very good to
see. ,.
At meal times the house on wheels
be called egg shell, the mugs are serv-
iceable rather than elegant, Nut this Is
all In the days work. Health and hap
piness and the satisfaction Of doing
their bit In the struggle for freedom
make the land girls lot a thing to envy.
The machine whirred, the stack grew
less n less. and at length, as the sun
was westering, the mule wagon ven
or with its final load Of bales. Time
to pack UP and be Jogging. The baler
was drapsA Snew in It's green tarpaulin,
loose ends were tucked up and made
shipshaps n q that would
please tho most exacting sergeant mai
or. the tractor pulled out into he
road again, train was coupled up, and
away went this little park Of peace
ful ordnance to attack and reduce a
new position.
The village will be sorry when all the
haystacks have vanished and the land
girls take their hay baler elsewhere.
They are a bright note in anxious days.
Better still, they plead their own cause.
Lady Clara We're de We're. hitherto very
energetic in flag days and charity mat
inees, to the ruin Of her nerves and
looks, a seen O new field of useful
ness n has gone off to enlist.