The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1919-11-06
Glenn Thompson Writes from
Canada.
Hussar, Alta, Oct. 20, 1919

~ .
Hussar, Alta, Oct. 20, 1919
Editor neporIer ana Decatur
County r'rlenQs:
AS IT. was, the request of. several
| of my trends when 1 left, to write
tueu, l am taking tnls opportunity
or answering Lnen4 through Inc tie
porter.
the twelfth, aud arrived al f1ussar,
Alberta Canaua, on Friday august
lhe 1l1CeenJn. / had very pleasant
ana interesting trip out Was pretty
tired Wnen got through.
Inc tnreSnlug, as you know, was
almost done at home When l lett.
they were just stacking their gram
IN minnesota as / came through. In
dakota they were just beginning to
thresh. l saw only few machines
at work there. IN Saskatchewan,
they were just beginning to cut their
gram. The wheat crop was very
light there. When ! arrived at my
sons place (ttalph's) in Alberta,
they had not begun to cut their
gram; they did not begin until the
last of August.
This was very poor year here.
The best OF the wheat around here
went thirty-fiVe bushels to the acre.
There was a streak though, that the
hail damaged quite badly, Ralph
lost about two-thirds OF his crop
Farmers are receiving $3.50 per
bushel for wheat.
Help was very scarce here during
harvesting, so took a part in it. l
received ten dollars per day for
separator work and five dollars per
day for hauling bundles to the
machine. The bigger part OF the
threshing is done, but there is con
CT Ia fn
tie later than | am used to thresh
ing and ! think l will start on my
journey home around through
Wyoming, stopping on my way, to
see my son Lester about Christmas.
l am going to stop threshing now
soon and enjoy a little sport in
see from five to nine coyotes in
bunch here. Their fur is worth
from twenty-five to thirty-five dol
lars apiece and that looks pretty
good to me. 1t sure is fun to watch
the grey-hounds pick them up on
the prairies. The dogs enjoy it too.
They can sure raise potatoes here,
ply plough. the sod and plant the
potatoes in the Through, and just
turn the next sod over them. That
is all the work they get and there
are lots of them that weigh two and
three pounds apiece and they are Of
the very best quality. At digging
with a fork and there are the pota-
toes as nice and clean as can be.
Oh, yes, l must tell you about
our trip to the coal mine. Ralph
and hitched up four horse team
to the wagon one morning and
Ralph, his wife and children, my
daughter Fern, and l started on a
w oil vy0 mil tv.Sv n no
When we were within a mile of the
coal mine, we started down the hill
that leads to the mine. it is a
gradual slope at first getting sleeper
and sleeper farther down. In some
places there is only room for
wagon and team to pass with steep
cliffs on the sides fifty, feet down.
Before we ate our dinner, we took
trip through the mine. 1t is vein
seven feet deep and of such good
quality. There is not a piece of
rock or slate to be found in it. The
coal can be had for the mining of
it or tor two dollars and fifty cents
mighty w fine finer thing il 'n for settlers ct Is
especially in a cold climate like this.
We reached home with two tons of
coal about eight o'clock that even
ing. We were all tired but enjoyed
the trip very much.
There are still many traces of the
Indians who lived here a short time
ago but who have now moved far
Their north. 1t is interesting to see
the. rings of rocks where they had
their wigwams. They are still al
most perfect, rings.
My daughter, Fern, is teaching
school here and drawing ninety
four dollars per month.
We have had as fine fall as l
ever saw in Iowa up until last Satur-
day, October 25th, it came snow
of about two and half inches
which stayed on until today, Oct
ober 28th, when a chinook wind
came up and took it all off in about
three hours. Today it is comfort
able with the doors open.
Well if this letter interests my
friends, it is more than can expect
as this is my first attempt at writ
ing letter for publication.
Wishing you all success,
remain as ever,
Glenn Thompson.