t'' ; ' - ' " r-' 'T
WOMEN WITH HA IS KS WOIIK.
rght, IlirJ. In James llcuton)
i . ... . i i f.. It lnlr.
m m 1 ' . . AIIIITII HII HI rUU! II 'virvo
I I strung to sit women at w rk
I . 1. II. .1.1.. II.. tl.l..La II a
III 111 lli'Min. Iir uiuina
sign i.f superior civilization that
In ilif I'tiltcd Stall's women do
nut commonly till the crops. Yet within tho
limits of the elty from wli'iii h" h:iI e.l hun
ilredH of women me today i mployi d as farm
laborers, and within a f'-w mile' niellos of
New York may he found more than 3,000
women fanner and farm hands.
In laet, If the returned tniit were In
explore Ihe eniinlry mails to the iiulh if
the village nf Jamaica, Long Island, he
might almoHt Ihlnk hlmHcIf liar k in AiiHtiia
or Italy, ho nay are headkerrhlefn ami tin
cotton iItphhi of the Htnall lir.iwn-xkinned,
liriKht eyed women whi are everywhere
huy In Ihe flat, level field. Toward evin
ln when the sun la fi'MIiir behind the trees
of Woodhaven. nlldltiK In th' dlstanc th
nplre of the little Hal. an church, the tour
ist tnlnht Bee before him many n Been
BiiKK'tlvo of MUlet'B "AnKelu-i." Th wo
man with the hoe Is as common ns ehe Is
picturesque In the landseapo.
rrowded In the lenemcnti of Jamaic.i
live at lentil 1.000 women who are employed
more or less atendlly (in the HiirroundiiiK
truck farms. Here I another foreign touch
for the traveler. In former days the Euro
pean peasant was a village dweller for Ih
Hake of Heeurlty as In luiKand-cursed
Sicily he at 111 must be kiiIiik out In the
incrnliiK to work in perhaps distant fields.
The habit thus el abllsheil has lived ami
has been transplanted and joined with con
venience ami the Ruelal Itntlnct, It explains
why th.Te are huddled In Hlrksville,
Mlneila, Woodhaven and especially la Ja
maica. Ihe 1'olcn. Ilohemlans, French, Ital
ians, Slovaks, whose work on th" Long
Island farms may be miles away.
I.eiiK Island's women farm hands are
mainly Poles from Itusslan 1'oland. Th y
work for American, Irish and German truck
farmers, who hire them by the day. In h:ir
M'St time when a farmer neeiU womi n la
borers he lays in a stock if $1 bills mil
pauses the word to one of his m-n. Tie
man stops the first I'olaU he meet and
points to a field. Few ro!ak upeuk En lsh,
but the bIko Is nouKh. The man's work
Is done. Next morning at the farm naie
there may be fifty women waiting.
The farmer who lives at a distance from
Ihe village uses a different method. Har
nessing a big hay cart, he drives to town,
halts, beckons to a group of women in tho
iuii. unci our noops loon piwses
I sicm cif Manila a certain toll
I 1...1.1 ..i.e.. i . i. ......
. . . . .. 1. -
ui nine ii luiiiit-vieu (lie Cliy
with one of its suburbs was de
c a:ed fr.e to ail puhieugcrs, says
tho II rook I) u Ea.ile. Subsequently, how
ever, the toll s. stem wus restored, but, us
the bridge was large ly u.-cel by sol Iters who
declined to recognize tho bridge keeper's
right to tax them, the tax law was more
honored In the breach than In the observ
ance. Among tile civilians in Manila at
the time was Congressman Hull, chairman
of the hJuse committee on military affairs.
Ono evening he started to walk across the
bridge. The keeper stopped him aud de
manded toll. Mr. Hull, who thought the
bridge was free, refused to pay.
' 1 am an American citizen" he protested,
"and I won't pay toll."
"No," retuined the bridge guard. "You
are not Americano."
"Hut 1 am."
"N", uj. If you were Americano you
wcull have rail, 'Go to hell!' when I asked
for nicney."
Mr. Hull Bays that he laid the toll, but
when he came that way again he estab
lished hii claim to bis citizenship by imi
tating the soldiers. He did it merely for
thd sake of the experiment, as he Is not
natural y a profane man. The biidgekeeper
at once recognized the convincing force of
his argument, aud, biwing profoundly, per
mitted him to pass.
Wllhelm Busch, the German humorist and
comic artist, received the following mes
sage from the kaiser the other day: "To
the poet and artist whoBe splendid crea
tions, full of genuine humor, will live
imperishable among the German people, I
express m sincere congratulations on the
oceanic n of his seventieth birthday. May a
beautiful evening be vouchsafed to bis lift.
Women Who
street, walttt until twenty or more have
ccramlileil in, and then drives off with hi-i
raptine. Ills (iijeci is t:i prevent the stra;;
i;!Iiik of his h ip uinl to make sure i f Ihi
i ii tn In r wanted; but in the dewy fnsli
iieiis of the early morning the wag n loads
of laiiKhitig niiis look less like lab: rcr.
1 1 1 it ii a picnic party.
Women are i icployid for planting on ous.
f. r harvesting crops that are pick d by
hand, such in kiviii peas, string bean;,
lima beans ami tomatoes; for bunching rhu
barb it ml for wee ling tender crops. l:k"
onii tis and yi ling carrots, that cannot stand
the cultivator.
In planting time and In June and Sep
tember, when the first and second crops
of peas are gathered, the outflocking of
women Is Budden. One may see as many
as fifty at work in a plot of a few acres
where the day before there was not one.
"They nay labor's scarce In the west,"
eald one farmer; "it's plenty here. Whistle
and you'll see a dozen women cumin'."
Another farmer said that I'olaks were as
thick as mosquitoes.
In June, when green peas must be rushed
to market and every day's delay means
monetary loss, the larger farmers need
all the help they can get, so even women
with babies are set picking. Vp and down
the fields, between long, straight, green
rows of vines, stand baby carriages, cov
ered with mosquito netting. While the
mothers work the babies sleep or kick In
the sunshine.
As soon ns children are old enough to
pull a pod, they, too, are called Into serv
ice, and at noon when work stops and
the luncheon of rye bread, cheese and
onions Is eaten, the scene Is festive.
Croups gather by families under trees or
shelters thatched with green boughs.
Sometimes, among Italian or French la
borers, there Is singing.
The wages received by women farm
hands are better than might be supposed.
For lllling a two-bushel bag of peas a
picker gets L cents; for beans half as
much. At these rates a good hand earns
$l.f0 per day. One reason for compara
tively high earnings la curious: The old
two-bushel bag has shrunk gradually in
size until now It holds only a bushel and
a half. The farmers have tried to sub
stitute the bushel as the unit of measure,
but the women object, and hag measure Is
still customary.
To insure Industry the farmers, when
possible, pay by quantity. Some have even
Gleanings From the Story Tellers' Pack
In gratitude for the many merry hours silver man. As usual he took his thirty ceived his money. Hobinscn went to the
which you give hltn. William, I. U." days vacation during the summer of 1S95 secretary's office anticipating a promotion
When the late J. Sterling Morton was and on his return applied to the disbursing cr something equally agreeable. He was
secretary of agriculture Mr. Robinson, the officer for his pay. He was told that the greeted pleasantly by the secretary, who
statistician of the department, was a free secretary desired to see him before he re- remarked that he had a surprise in store
A-
e
Work in American Fields
JM
',
n
WHEELING IN HER HALF HAY'S PICKING.
tried to pay for weeding by the row, but
as rows in different fields are of different
biig.hs, pay by time is more convenient.
The usual rates are 75 cents or $1 per
day.
Kvcn when hiring by the week, the farm
ers pay their help dally. Kvery afternoon
the farmer appears in the fields carrying
a leather bag fllli d with silver or $1 bills,
and the women form in line to receive their
earnings. The farmer Bays he takes this
trouble because he cannot tell the women
apart, and if he walled until Saturday
night there might be endless confusion in
his payrolls.
At pea-picking and hand-weeding one
sometimes sees l'olak men working side
by side with women, but not usually. The
male laborer drives the cultivator, or is
told off for heavy work. Indeed, the l'olak
man Is less npt than his wife to be a
farmhand. Ho digs cellars or sewers
and works on roads and railroads. When
he is employed on the farm, he is usually
a hand hired by the year and given, when
help Is scarce, to bringing forward his wife
and daughters to eke out the family in
come. Flocking in village tenements, the I.ung
Island Poles remain as old-world in habits
as they might In a New York "quarter."
They upeak little English. The women
wear head 'kerchiefs, black sometimes, as
often white or red. Some wear hoods,
many work bareheaded. They wear short,
full cotton skirts and big aprons. Many
work barefooted, their tanned soles peep
ing out In rows behind their skirts as they
kneel at weeding.
They are not easy subjects for the wan
dering photographer. Sometimes they run
from the "devil In the box;" sometimes
they are afraid of being victims of some
scheme. "No gotta no monna todaya,"
they scream at sight of the camera. Even
a bit of silver dropped in each hand needs
a minute to teach them that money for
once is passing In a pleasant direction.
Then what n change from suspicion! Down
on the
grass they fling themselves, laugh-
It.. t V. l. n a ..V.
ing, chattering, nulling their aprons, watch
ing as eugerly as children.
Ity 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when mar
ket wagons s art for the city, pea-picking
stops. This gives the women lime for
fagot gathering. Some landowners pay
their help partly by giving the run of a
wood lot. Uy 5 o'clock through the coun
try lanes the women are moving village
ward, wheeling fagots In a barrow, carry
'..w. s. ' ' ' - .
V-rA r
CORN KELT EXPOSITION Bl'ILIUNQ AT MITCHELL,
1. .'" '''I
SHE
ing tliriii in up-turned aprons or bundled
upon tin ir heads, just as their forcmothers
in Europe have done for centuries.
At t very turn one feels the foreign
tench in the women washing at the brook
sidis; in Sunday groups of holiday-seel; -(is
sh;oting tpiirows. It is because Italy
is ro new a nation that it has few pre
serves and no will enforced game laws thai
the l.cug Island Italian, walking out from
the village with his wife, hits children and
his gun, f ill ws "la caccia" over ground
that slu Iters no game bigger than field
mice, ilius i (impelling I In' farmer io plain,
bis acres thick with "No Hunting" sign.1".
Few Pi les own land, and so in mid-summer,
whi n weeding grows sbu k and the
late "picking crops" are not ripe, lio.ips of
women move from farm to farm, begging
work. Every English speaking farmer U
to them a "boss" or "bosno," while the far
mer's sons and brothers are distinguished
as "lloswo Jim" or "Ilosso Pete." If liosso
Pete needs no help, he finds it hard to
make the woman understand; they know no
English. If, on the oilier hand, he wants
them there Is less trouble.
Ac ross Idling I.-land sound, in Conner: i--nt
. a busy time for women farm hinds
ei'iues with the corn harvest. Italian
women are engaged for the husking, and
no one who has seen a group of them sur
ri.und a cart loaded with corn, pushing nnl
pul Ing it to the barn, will doubt their ca
pa city.
Farm work may seem to many undesir
able for women, yet it is the task at which
these women can best support themselves,
brought up to it as they were from chll-
('.ren.
They are used mainly on the light
( rop, and, though their dark cheeks do not
s-h.iw the red (f northern bloed, they loot;
In alihy.
The Frenchwomen, of whom there are
many around Wcodhaven, chat at their
work. The other foreigners are less vlva
( ilius. They are slow of motion and en
during. The farmers say that a l'olak
woman does nearly a man's work, and does
it as easily. Her movements are not Jerkv,
like an American woman's, but steady and
... 1 ... . ft , . 1 . .
patient. A farmer unconsciously expressed
the difference when he said that I'olak3
wire like cows. An American woman Is
like a nervous Tilly.
It is a common remark among city doc
tors that Swedish and German girls taken
from the outdoor work of Europe and con
fined In American kitchens, often lose their
red cheeks and their strength after a year
or two of service. The change to Imloe r
, - ... - " rl
It-
S. D.
r. iv U
4 jyVWi J
1
HOES AND WEEKS.
work saps
laborer is
their vitality. The l'olak farm
savid from slaving in a ci y
sweat shop. Her wage
working day is short r;
ployed mere than ten
habit of huddling with
s are higher, ber
she is never ein
haurs. With h -r
her kind In touc
iim nt i utdror work Is
her only chance of
continued vigor. And it
is the only chance
of her children, who are now getting, not
a paltry "frish air week." but plenty of
oxygen fi.r a good share of the year.
It is only the l'olak, the newest immi-L-rant
to Long Island, that has n lan I. The
Italian, who came a little earlier, may lease
liom four to seven ncrej, paying fr tn $1"'
to $."i0 per year and having the right of
fagot-gathering in the large farmer's wool
lot. The rate of his lease is high, but the
land is valuable and he is making ninn y.
The German, who cemes before th ' It 1
ian, usually owns the land he works, from
ten to twenty acres. HH wife works by
his side. She may even run a plow, but sh
river is employed on another man's farm
As time goes on and the family holdings
increase, she is relieved from (.ut-of-d :or
work, and her daughters are brought up
with all the advantages that prosperity
i an offer.
llefcre the German came th Irishman,
lie has long been among the wealthiest of
Long Island farmers.
Newcomers In America are moving a'oiu
the rend over which Ihe older settlers have
traveled. In colonial ilmrs the pioneer hid
only his family to depend upon. Outside
help was unattainable. So to the man's lot
fell the (b aring of land, buildine and Blow
ing, while women were glad to heln with
l.,oing. haying and harvesting. In the west
today in regie ns where to some extent
pioneer conditions prevail, women often
work in harvesting time, Kiich as driving
the horse rake. So in the northwest among
the Russian and Scandinavian settlers, pio
neer conditions and Inherited habit have
made of women an important element in
farm labor.
Sometimes It happens that even long resl-
ii'lice in tne oleler states of Amerirn rtnea
not wean women from outdoor work
'
ai ap-
piars in n nnsyivania, where among the
de scendants of the Hessians and M :ro
vians of revolutionary days, field labor
is common among women.
These and other groups of women farm
hands, added to the Mexican fruit pickers
of California and to negro laborers in th'
souin. make up in the United States
an
unexpected total of 4".0,000 labor rs.
JAMES HEATON.
fur him. Then he told the free silver
statistician that he had come to the con
clusion that his (Robluson's) financial
views deserved more consideration thai
tiny had hitherto received from th s'-cie-tary,
and, as Kcbinson had frequently said
he would be delighted to see every one in
the I'nited States ccnipelled by law to
transact all bis business in silver coin, he
Bhould have that privilege, If (he general
public did not, so Mr. Morton had ordered
the disbursing officer to pay him his salary
In standard silver dollars. Robinson had
nothing to do but take the mcney. The bag
weighed twelve pounds and the secretary
solicitously cautioned him not to let it
drop on his toes.
The German officer is nothing if not prac
tical, so there may be an element of
truth in the following amusing incident,
which comes from Berlin," says the London
Express:
A sergeant was perplexed how to deal
with a bow-legged recruit. At last he be
thought himself of a plan. Taking a 1
mark piece, about the size of a shilling, he
ordered the recruit to put It between hU
knees, and said, "Woe betide you if y u let
the money fall before I come back in five
minutes."
The unhappy recruit, with knees pressed
together, remained in that uncomfortable
position for a minute and at last, struck
by a happy idea, he took the coin from be
tween his knees and put it in his pocket.
When the sergeant hove in eight he hur
riedly replaced what he thought to be the
same coin. It was, however, a 2-mark
piece, about as large as a florin. The ser
geant smiled as he complimented the bow
legged recruit on the great pressure e must
have exerted on the coin between his
knees.
