Denver labor bulletin., 1918-11-16
especial corre.pondenoe.l

Indiana portrait painter who belongs
equally to America. and Europe
worked as a farmerette during the
past season, regardless alike of cold
rain or midsummer heat. She went
into the harvest fields before sun-up
to help gather the grain, and finished
her labors by helping the farmers
wife wash the dishes.
II is a long step in industry from
painting princesses, celebrities and
millionaires to shocking oats, but Mrs.
Mira Edgerly, artist, traveller and
citizen of the world, has proved that
she can do the one as well as the
other. She says, moreover, that she
found one task quite as interesting
as the other. She Is widely known in
Washington, which has just leaned Of
her experiences
Mrs. Edgerly became a farmerette
quite by accident She did not belong
to unit of the woman's land army.
She made her experiment alone 1t
just happened, she says, for she had
n spare month not provided for in her
plans. She had gone to Chicago, after
several weeks passed in Washington,
ID. c., to execute an important COM
mission. War work called the man
who was to sit for his portrait out Ct
the city, so Mrs. Edgerly sought a
place in the country where she could
really rest. Some one directed her to
LaPorte and thence she ventured to
Westville, where she found board on
farm.
In Washington the artist had been
engaged for several months in making
character studies Of men and women
whose names are known in the great
world. An exhibition Of portraits
marked "Edgerly" had attracted much
attention and she had more requests
for sittings than she could grant, for
her fame had preceded her. She had
painted the Duke and Duchess of Con-
naught, Princess Dolgouriski, Princess
Henry Of Pless, the Duchess of Hamil-
ton and many other titled persons too
numerous to count She had jour
neyed to India to paint viceroy and
had circled the globe, coming back to
New York to execute commissions
from Mrs. Seward Webb, Mrs. James
A. Burden and Mrs. Willard Straight.
Her last finished pictures had been
portraits of Mr.. and Mrs. Joseph Lei
ter, Mr.. and Mrs. Edward B. Nc
Lean and little Vincent Mclean.
known far and wide as the wealthiest
child in the world.
From the mansions Of the million
aires, where she had been working
with brush and colors, Mrs. Edgerly
stepped into a neat, homelike Western
farm house, one morning in midsum-
mer. She caused something of SEN
sation and aroused more or less sus-
picion by bringing with her many
trunks filled with canvases, paints and
souvenirs of foreign travel, as well as
queer garments that later were to
cause a sensation in Westville> The
odd garments were English riding
breeches, which were to be worn in the
most extraordinary pastime ever in
dulged in by their owner.
A days stay on the farm revealed
n labor shortage. The oats were ready
for harvesting and it was impossible
to hire any extra "help." Five or six
families owned thresher and other
machinery in common and they had
revived the old system of co-opera-
ton that results in what used to be
called "bees," all. concentrating on n
field until the grain had been safely
garnered.
For years Mrs. Edgerly had been
interested in studying labor problems.
She had theories about ones relation
to the land and the situation which
confronted her seemed to make dis
tinct appeal
"hand." The farmer to whom she
her on probation, for he was becom-
ing accustomed to the necessity that
made his wife and daughters valuable
aids in the lighter forms Of field labor,
and the artist who is tall, straight