Through State of Nebraska on Horseback
F I HAD any enemies to punish
I would recommend that they
take a horseback ride," sali J.
il95? B- Parker of Lincoln, who, with
Mrs. Parker, had Just returned
from a 800 mile trip In the saddle, an he
straightened out the pillow on hlr. ehilr at
his place of business, 224 North Tenth street.
Becoming comfortnble, he remarked with
the next breath: "We Intend to go e'ear
Into Yellowstone park next fall and 1 have
already figured how we are to make 'the
trip."
Mr. Parker weighs 263 pounds, which is
even poundu less than when he started rn
the ride, and he had not ridden to amount
to anything for twenty years. He rode a
regular western horse, bought in South
Omaha Just before the start, and Mrs.
Tarker rode a thoroughbred Kentucky
animal.
Mr and Mrs. Parker made the. trlv from
Lincoln to their ranch near Dunning, a d's
tance of "52 miles, on horseback in seven
days, remained at the ranch eight days
and made the return trip In six days. Both
were feeling stronger and better at the end
of the return trip. than, upen their arrival
at the ranch, and though they . made an
average of forty-three miles a day, the
horses came back In good shape. They left
Lincoln four week? ago and the first n'ght
they rounded up at Seward, thirty-four
miles. They spent the second night at
Bradshaw, the third at Grand Island, the
fourth at Ravenna, having passed the fa
mous Taylor ranch during the day, ate din
ner at Cairo that day and cn to Mason
that night; then Broken Bow the Flxth
night. They arrived there at 3 o'clock In
the afternoon, but owing to a heavy sand
storm, remained over until the next morn
Ing. The seventh day they rounded up at
Dunning, from which place it was -only
seven miles to their ranch. The return trip
was made over the same route In six days.
Mrs. Parker's riding outfit cons'sted of
divided skirts, sweater, cowboy hat, r!d!ng
shoes and a regulation cowboy sarid'e
weighing forty-five pounds. Mr. Parker
rode the regulation cowboy saddle and or
dinary business suit, with the cowboy hat.
Three weeks or more before the start was
made Mrs. Parker rode every day an aver
age of ten or fifteen miles -and It was the
great Improvement this produced In her
health that suggested the long overhand
trip.
Before starting the route was mapped
out carefully It was planned that there
be no camping out and no stopping at the
roadside for meals. Every night the two
remained at a hotel In some town alcng
the route and every meal was eaten In a
hotel. They took their time and got their
direction from one town to the other and
Incidentally found out some things. "One
of which," said Mr. Parker, "was that mere
guesses are made by different- pecp'e as
to the distances between places. Many a
time we would be riding along and ask
someone how far It was to the next town.
Probably the answer would be five miles.
After going two or three miles we would
meet another person and asking him the
same question, the answer would be n'ne
times out of ten six miles, and sometimes
seven and eight."
This mode of spending a vacation was
adopted In the hope that the health of Mrs,
Parker would be Improved, she having been
a sufferer for some months with a bad
cough, the result of an attack of pneu-
IWAIU t-'A 1'' 1.1 i vi rrvii nig uu-
mestio help Is not new, and it is
not peculiar to New York, relates
the New York Evening Post A
century ago, an English writer.
William Fordyce Mavor, In his "Survey of
Berkshire," remarked pathetically: "It is
greatly to be lamented that good servants
very year become more scarce and diffi
cult to command." Such also was the com
plaint of our own grandmothers and
mothers; such is the complaint of our
wives today. It Is true, however, that
servants are harder to find than for some
years past. Housekeepers from one end
of Manhattan to the other unite In a chorus
of grief, which Is echoed from Brooklyn,
Staten Island and the Bronx, from West
chester county and Rockland, and from
the whole state of New Jersey. The trouble
may be more acute here because popula
tion Is more congested, but If the news
papers of Philadelphia and Chicago are
not deceived, the situation in those cities,
and Indeed In the whole country, is un
usually distressing.
Some of the reasons for the present plight
are obvious. There have been and must
continue to be certain Inherent difficulties
In the problem. These have often " ben
pointed out: Long and irregular hours,
confined and often lonely routine, Varying
quantities of work, vagaries and caprices
of mistresses and the so-called "social
stigma." All these combine to draw women
Into factory employment, with Its fixed
hours, opportunities to be on the street
In going and corning, congenial companion
Ship while busy, definite- tasks, formal
rules for conduct, consistent supervision
ad general Independence outside of hours
t :
"
MR. AND MRS. CLARK
monla, and that the weight of Mr. Parker
might be reduced to the extent of 75 or 10
pounds. In the first instance the trip was
an entire-success, the cough of Mrs. Parker,
having been left In the sandhills. In the
latter, however, there was no Biich o:d
luck. "I only lost seven pounds," said Mr.
Parker, "but I am thankful that I didn't
take oi seven.".
"Twenty years ago," said Mr. Parker,
"when I used to ride the ranges, I thought
nothing of a hundred-mile trip a day, but
right here I want to rise to remark,, and
Just at this time it is easier to tal'r stand
ing, that 100 miles a day on liorreback Is
quite a Jaunt. However, I enjoyed this
trip. The first two days out it nearly did
me up, and I had made up my mind whet
we reached the ranch we would ttart back
In a buckboard. When I would get off that
horse at night my clothes would s ick
closer to me than a brother. But after the
first two days I was all right. The ft st
part of the trip did not bother Mrs. Puiker
at all, but after about half of the distance
had been covered she began to Fhow the
effects of it. She stood the trip well, how
ever, and after an eight days' rest at the
ranch we never thought any more of the
buckboard, . but were ready for .the return
and we both felt tip top when we got hack.
"The times when I got tired were when
night was coming on and we would meet
some man on the road and he would say It
was three or four miles to the town. We
wou'd Jog ulong, come in sight of the town
and then find it was six or seven miles
away. Those times when the train would
pass us I had visions of home and of the
greatness of the iron horse. Just to give
Martyrdom of
of labor. For the many women to whom
the kitchen and its duties are not posi
tively attractive, the factory will always
be a Btrong magnet; and the growth of
manufacturing must make even deeper In
roads upon domestic service. VarioU3 xug
gestions have been offered for Improving
conditiona, but few or none of the reme
dies are practicable for people of moderate
means, who must continue 'to meet these
inherent difficulties as best they can.
There are, however, some new factors-,
in the reckoning. The demand for the
work of women is keener than ever lcfore.
With the last decude a number -of occupa-'
tions have opened to them for ' the first !
time. Women are, for example, acceptably,
lining positions os factory Inspectors and
sanitary officers. Most of these new occu
pations are above the skill and intelligence
of the housemuid, but the women who are
drafted Into the higher service leave room
in other callings for" the better class of
maids to enter, and thus drain off tho
household service -from the-top.
The greatest demand for:female labor U.
due to the era of prosperity. Our manufac
turing has expanded enormously. With all
our factories running lull time and pay-'
Ing high wages, the housekeeper is facing
a sharp competition at a desperate d's id-vantage.-
To add to" her troubles she must
compete. also with her own c-Mss. A few
days ago ihe New York State Department
of Labor, in Ha quarterly bulletin, declare J:
"Prosperity is so widely diffused that the
servant-keeping clussiis larger than ever
before, and has thus created a demand
..thai exceeds the supply." With families
that kept no servant now employing at
least one, and wealthier families adding an
V7
4"-
"H v
- - - -
i k-tm VltY in t II
OF LINCOLN AS THEY APPEARED ON
an example of the slowness with which a
man on horse gets along: At Grand Island
I met on engineer I knew. The next day
I met him on the streets at Ravenna. He
had .? ne Into Lincoln and back again and
we had merely got to cne little town.
"We had fine weather nearly all the way.
At Broken Bow we struck a rand storm
that was the regular thing. The sand cut
our faces and was fo fierce that when we
landed in the town we stayed all night be
cause it was impossible to make any red
way against It. One night we rounded Into
Llnscott at 6:30 o'clock and found xotl Ing
there but a section house. Not even a
place for our horses. We were tlreJ out
then, but there was nothing left but to
push on to the next town. We were right
in the sand hills then and from then until
the stars came up I believe it was thj
darkest night I ever saw. Wc had mere'y
a little trail to follow In the sand and we
ran into a sand blow. This Is where the
wind scoops out the rand and wipes out
the trail. In this instance for over a block.
We hunted around and found a patch and
followed It for over a half mile and it took
us to a water tank. Then we had to ie
trace our route and get buck to the blow
out for a fresh start. We made it all right
und found the trail that brought us Into
town about 9:30 thut r.lght.
"The first day upon our return trip we
made s'.xty-four miles ond were not the
least bit tired when we went to bed that
night. That was the biggest day's riding
we did. We got along a great deal better
on the return trip than we did going cut.
Neither of us noticed It and never felt tired
out at night like we did when we went out.
the Housewife
extra nurse, waitress, or laundress, the
unfortunate housewife Is ground betwesn
the upper millstone of the factory and tho
lower millstone of her own companions In
adversity.
Not only is the demand greater than be
fore, but the supply Is smaller. The very
prosperity that has enlarged the servant
keeping class has enabled poorer people
either to maintain their daughters at home
or send them to school; and many. girl i
who in UK3. would have been seeking placet
are now living in ease on the abundant
earnings of their fathers and brothers.
Statistics on this point are not available,,
but the facts re patent. It is plain, als:,
that employment at good wages hus al
lowed nviuy young mechanics to marry,
and has thus transformed possible house
maids "into actual wives. The "steady -company"
hus been much in evidence, unl
tils attentions hive still further disturbed
our domestic economy.
Borne people ask why the ennrmojs tin-
migration of the lust few years has not
filled up our depleted stock; for generally
In times of heavy immigration household
servants are comparatlve'y abundant. An.
examination . of the government returns
shbwa that in the twelve months ending.
June, VJtt, the number of female immi
grants was 12,374, anA In the next year it
was 343,900. With an Increase of over til.OuO
there ought to be some balm In Qllead for
our housekeepers. But unhappily the char
acter of the immigration has net been such
a to furnish domestic servants. Of tho
total number of women for 1j3, S.877 came
from Asia and other lands outside of Eu
rope. Moreover, of the 234,023 Europeans a
large number are from nations where modes
V
..i
-5
f ' - J" t 1 1 . ' ft J
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THEIR LONO RIDE.
The lust day we made forty-five miles.
"Before I made the trip I could not walk
any great distance without feeling tired
and pufling an) blowing, but just to see
how I was getting along we walked acroBS
the bridge over the Loup, which is said to
be a mile wide, and I didn't puff a bit
and was not the least tired. The trip
did us both a world of good and we had
any number of experiences thnt mode It
enjoyable. I believe that It has entirely
cured the cough of Mrs. Parker, which
had troubled her for months, and I never
felt better In my life. Of course, I found "
on the start that I couldn't stand the
racket like I used to In the old days, but
I enjoyed it so much and It did . us so
much good that next year we shall ride
Into Yellowstone park from here. But we
are going to arrange It a little different
next year.
We are going to get two good horses to
ride and u. team and buckboard. In the
buckboard, which I shall hire a boy to
drive, I intend to put a tent, with the bot
tom sewed on to keep out the snakes and
bugs, the cooking utenslla and such things
needed around a Camp. Then when wo
want to stop, wc can stop and make a
camp. If we tire of riding horseback
th?n we can get Into the buckboard. In
that way It will be more enjoyable and
not the least bit tlresom. I firmly be
lieve that an outing like that is the greatest
thing on earth for a person to take and
I believe It Is becoming more recognized
as such every year. I certainly recom
mend It for anyone who wants to Improve
his health, though just for a three days'
Jaunt It is killing If one is not used to It."
of life and social conditions unfit women
for domestic service In Amerie-a, without
a training that would uproot most of their
personal habits. In 1902, some 44.S53 came
from Austria-Hungary, and in 1903 the flood
had risen to 5S,027i The figures for Italy
are respectively 32,643 and 43.C56; and the
totals for Portugal, Roumania, Russia,
Servla, Spain wnd Turkey are 41,4?9 and
51.118. Making these deductions, we have
left from the Immigration of 1903 only Sl,
222 women from the countries that usually
send household servants. Of these, 15,223
came from. Germany, .8,212 from Norway,
32,000 from the Tnlted Kingdom and 16,220
from Sweden. Many of them, of course,
started directly weet to settle? on the pros
perous fnrms there.
The other day a gushing student of the
' question suggested that "love l.i the only
hope." Without- disparaging the Christian
virtues, we may be sure that love will not
melt the stony heart of factory wages or
immigration - statistics. With demand
strengthening and supply diminishing, the
outlook is- not cheerful. The only relief
now in sight Is from a check upon our
prosperity. The fall in prices and curtail
ment of manufactures that are. expected
in the near future will inevitally listen the
demand for female labor both in the fac
tory and In the home, and will as Inevitably
Increase the supply.' Meantime the martyr
dom of the housekeeper must go on. If it
be true, as ancient writers allege, that ona
of the enjoyments of the righteous in
heaven is to see the torments of the
damned, then the families which have
drawn from the greatest American lottery
one or two competent and contented serv
ant should be In seventh heaven of ecstasy.