THE CORN HARVEST.
*0 MORE THE ROMANCE OFTHERUBY
EAR, NO MORE THE HUSKING BEE.
the Advent of the Oifau Farmers'
OirlK Work Nut Outdoors—Catting Corn
a Trying It»—Hasking Ityilkm* the
Fingers Sore.
Tbe romance! of the red ear is trim
p.
The husking bee, actively {larticipated
ia by the young folks of the neighbor
hood, is a thing of the past. Hers and
there, it i» true, through the laud the
old time custom may le revived occa
nonally, bnt a modern "huakin" is not
like one of the fathers' time. Then the
primary object of the gathering was the
husking of corn. It was expected that
each person present would contribute
THE RED EAR.
big
hi* or her share of labor toward
erening's work. The finding of
ear was only an incident. The
romp that followed was succeeded by
great hustling to make np for lost time,
and the success of the gathering was
measured by the pile of shining ears
that was accumulated in the middle of
the barn floor when the party broke up.
a red
merry
Such husking bees as are held these
fatter years are merely social subterfuges
for the most part. Farmers' wives and
daughters do not oftetf help in the men's
work nowadays, least of all in husking
corn, for this is wearing on the hands.
Itcauses Bplit nails, and bleeding fingers,
and lame wrists, and sore arm muscles.
Hie husking bees of other days were
necessities. The farmers were paying
for their farms, and by all hands in a
neighborhood turning to and helping
«ach other at night in the husking sea
son money could le saved and the econ
omy that was so necessary conserved.
But even in those old days there was far
lees of romance at husking bees than
one would suppose from the stories that
have been woven by imaginative fiction
writers who have worked such occasions
into their tale.
It was not at all common for the worn
Ml and girls to help at the bees that I re
member, though they sometimes joined
their fathers and brothers for half an
hour or so, and occasionally red ears
were "barred" when the girls did take
part. The work of the women was usu
ally that of cooking and serving the sup
per. Sometimes this was eaten in the
barn and sometimes in the house. When
the parlor organ began to appear in the
farmhouses, the husking of corn by girls
died out almost altogether, for fingers that
are accustomed to tearing the reluctant
covering from ears of corn are not flex
ible enough for organ keys, and besides
the same sentiment that caused the
farmer to provide the organ for his
daughter caused him to object to seeing
hfcr engaged in any form of man's work.
The corn harvest is managed quite
differently in the east and the west. In
fbe west the ears are generally picked
from thf stalks while the latter are still
•tan^jj in the field. In the east the
%:jii is cit first and set up in "shocks"
Wound a single hill that is left uncut,
^here it stands curing for days and some
times weeks before it is husked.
"It is not fun to cut corn," said a
farmer friend the other day. "The first
day or two in the cornfield strains every
•inscle in your body. Your arms, and
jpour hands, and your back, and your legs
•Hi suffer, and when you come to go to
Jjed at night you ache from your heels
io your head. If your hands are a little
tender, you
are Sure
mbol*.
to cut them on the
liharp edges of the bladelike leaves, and
pefore novn little blisters come in your
jfealms, to break before night and bleed
jphe next day. By the second day cracks
%ppear between the thumb and forefin-
to
UNDER THE INDIAN SUMMER 8KY-
ger, and they bleed too. To add to my
misery, when I cut"corn, which I haven't
for aeyeral years till this fall, when I
could not get help enough to suit me
and so had U go into the field with my
men, the peculiar rasping sound caused
by the rubbing of the leaves and stalks
together cakea cold chill* chase each
other up and down my spinal cord for
the first day or two in a way that ia ter
rifying even to think nl»out.
''The tying of the knob in th« italk
band thai binds the tihockjs tog«th»r ia
what "does up* your hands most, and
splits your nail*, and turns them back on
your finger, and makes you wish your
manual appendagea were i^ade of brass
or eteel. It's almost as bad as binding
octa with in them, and that is
tbe moat harrowing performance in the
«om»&
fit
fannwork. Blading
«nfe Hm* 4w» Vy machinery,
Imw*.
tiot yet iuccesafujlj
jMeMaie karrM*
ing of orn, and I'm afraid they never
will."
The strain oti the hands in husking
corn is greater than in cutting it, and
When 1 was a boy and had to join my
grandfather's hired man in the work we
used lmsking pegs to part the husks at
the point of the ear. Tho man or boy—
and I ljelieve it was a boy—who invented
tho hnsking peg is deserving of all the
blessings that were'showered upon the
"man who first invented sleep" by San
cho Panza. A husking peg is about six
inches long and should be made of hick
ory or ash or oak or iron wood. It is
sharp poiuted and polished and fash
ioned with infinite care.
Each hnsker of the old days used to
like to make his own peg, and there were
many animated discussions among them
as to the proper form, to give it. Some
liked straight pegs best and some curved,
and there were preferences in the matter
of material that have been knowu to lead
to fist fights and a profusion of language
not suited to representation by means of
printed characters. At the stores 20
years ago iron pegs were sold, and the
first year they were added to the stock
at Deacon Jephson's establishment they
went off rapidly. But they did not suit.
There was no give to them, and they
Were so heavy that they tired the hand.
If the weather is not too cold when
the work of husking corn begins, it is
pleasanter to husk in the field under the
dreamy blue of an Indian summer Bky
that is warmed by the yellow light of
the sun of October and early November.
It is possible to talk at your work if you
are a husker of sufficient experience to
have trained your hands to operate auto
matically, and if the party of field husk
ers include one man who is a good story
teller the hours iass fast enough once
the cracks and wdunds that come to your
hands during the first few days have
closed up.
Some of the best stories ever related
by human lipe have been told around the
growing piles of husked ears of corn,
and the quaint and piquant phrases with
which they are related add immensely
to their effectiveness. I knew a hired
man a score and a half of years ago whose
stories told during hnsking time would
make the fortune of any writer who
could put them into a book without los
ing their charming rustic flavor. They
abounded with quiet humor and subtle
wit, and it was not every one of his rural
auditors who could appreciate them.
Curiously enough, the name of this hard
working raconteur was Joe Miller, but
his jokes were always fresh, and he
never told the same story twice unless
he was urged to do so. This fact gave
him the reputation in the valley where
Mi A
SHELLING WITH CASEKNIFE.
he passed his whole life, working first on
this farm and then on that, of being the
"biggest liar between the hills."
"But," Deacon Allen used to observe
philosophically when discussing Joe Mil
ler's tales, "his lies don't count, I guest),
fer they don't do nobody no harm, and
they sometimes chirk a feller up won
derful—wonderful."
There was no stain on Joe Miller's rep
utation, save these jokes and stories, and
they were never low or vulgar, but he
used to be held up by Deacon Jephaon
as one who at the end of life would have
many an "idle word" to answer for, and
the good deacon frequently made excel
lent use of these "idle words" as
illustra
tions befurn his Bible class on Sunday.
Joe cou i't tell as good stories when
the husking was done in the barn as
when in the open air. He missed the
sunshine, and the azure sky, and the
breezes. The weather was generally
wet afid gloomy or cold and the ground
snow covered by the time it was thought
best to haul the corn under cover for
husking.
A good deal of ingenuity has been ex
pended in attempts to devise effective
corn husking machines, but none of them
has been eminently successful. The
shelling of corn, however, is almost al
together done by machinery nowadays.
Hand shelling was done in two ways 30
years ago. The most primitive method
was to denude the ears of their kernels
by abrasion, a cob being held in one hand
and an ear in the other, both being
grasped in a viselike grip.
Later some genius discovered that the
work could be accomplished wffh great
er rapidity and ease by driving a "case
knife" into the end of a board and rasp
ing the kernels off against the knife, the
sheller meantime sitting astride the
board which projected over the edge of
a lasket placed for the reception of the
shelled corn. This method was adopted
with great unanimity after its discoverer
first osed it, and it continued to be prac
tically the only method until the ma
chine sheller was introduced.
Vsetaali la Ammriea mod Enropa.
in both France andv Germany one
fourth reduced to a decimal is written
as 0,95. In England it is writren 0-25
(always with the period at the top of the
line) aad in the United States in this
way—0.25. Sir Isaac Newton is given
credit of originating the present English,
method of using the decimal point, his
reason bping that by placing it at the
top of ]ttke line it could be distinguished
at a gjfenee from the "fall stop" nunctu-
PtAY'rNG WITH PlRB.
i i
The Coupcl oi Wealjl't According to B*Q
S. Hewitt.
The man win/robs you of freedom of
action that is, tiw? right to acquire
I property is the enemy of society. I
do not care in what form it is discussed.
Men may persuade thcm^ lves by a sort
of sophistry that they have a right to
restrain their neighbor in the exercise
of his faculties and in the right to gain
an honest livelihood, but such a con
clusion is against human nature. 1
know that I am created free, and no
man has a right to restrain my free
dom of action. Only society as a wholo
is invested with this power. So while
men must combine together, must have
trusts and associations and trades anions
and trade organizations, they ara all
parts of a progress toward a plan of
civilization. Yet, when they are abused
so as to take away from any jnau tho
natural right to do with his own as he
will, believe me, human nature may be
trusted to assert its inherent right, and
it does assert itself whenever the issue is
fairly made.
Now, I do not think the "men who have
the great fortunes in New York are
doing their full duty to the community.
I say it frankly, but there are many
noble exceptionj.
1
12.00
I. D. Mmwhaij,
know of one man
in this city, a rich man. I mean by a
rich man a man worth $^0,000,000. This
man inherited this sum. He did not
make it. No muu ever made $20,000,000.
He deliberately said, "I have got
enough." Every dollar pf his income
beyond that which is required for a very
modest support of his family is appro
priated to public and private charities.
That man, Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, has
a proper conception of his duty.
I do not wish to preach what may be
called "the gospel of wealth," but I
know that when those who work shall
have educated themselves up to a com
prehension of the fundamental princi
ples upon which society rests—then I
know that the rich man will be educated
pari passu and will recognize the fact
that as to this excess of income over any
ordinary requirements for a comforta
ble or even a luxurious life they are
trustees responsible in this world to
public opinion, and in the next world to
God for the way in which the trust has
been executed.
What, then, is the remedy for the evils
which demagogues handle with such ad
vantage to themselves and so much dan
ger to the community? They are play
ing with fire. The remedy is education
first and thrift next and last of all asso
ciation together for the discovery of cor
rect principles, for the discussion of
grievances, for the representation of
wrongs to those in authority, for secur
ing in the public halls of legislation men
who are fit to represent an educated
community and not, as they are often
now, representing the worst element of
the community.
On education, thrift and association 1
base all my hopes for the continued prog
ress of society, and I believe that under
this potent influence the evil incident to
the rapid accumulation of wealth in the
hands of men who do not appreciate
their opportunities and duties wil disap
pear.—Ex-Mayor Hewitt of New York.
They Can Do It.
there any way to make new fur
niture look as though it had been made
a century ago'r' asked a correspondent.
There is. A houseful of children will do
it for you in about a week.—London
Notice.
Land Office at Mitchell. S. D., Oct. 12, 18S3.—
Notice is here')) given that the following-named
settler has filed notice ot his intention to make
final proof in rapport of bis claim, and that said
proof will be made before the cierk of the cir
cuit court, in and for Lake county, 8. D.. at
Madison, S. l.,on November'ii, 18m, vir.: Wil
liam H. Kennedy, for the northwest qaarter,
section 0. township HIS north, ranee "4 west, 5th
P. M. (H. E. No. !i8,H5.Y) He names tbe follow
ing witnesses to prove his continuous residence
upon and cultivation'of. faid land, viz: Andrew
Jacobson, .lonas Johnson, (I. W. Masftker and
Kzra Lee, alt of Oldham 1*. O., S. I).
H. N. KKATZ, Register.
It'K.
CHOICE
CRYSTAL
ICE.
File you orders for the season o
1893 with
Li FISHER
^ssss&str
RAT MAItKIT
W. L. DOUGLAS
83 SHOE NoTttr.
Do yos wmt them? When next tn need try pilfcl
Beit in the world.
12.29
For Bronchitis
"J new tin' ptt.nl i: a UK»«ii
Cino so iiuuli as I h.tve in tin- i-1 few
fhoi)ti*, liiiriiig which tune I have euf
|Lrtri intensely from piifiiinonia, foikmtd
by l.ronchilis. After trying various rem
edies without benefit, I began tlie use of
Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, auti the effect
has Ix'oii marvelous, a single tiose re
lieving me of choking, ami securing
La Crippe
Dated October 12,
Constable to ta4
•2.00
l.7«
rait
»0Yt
#1.75
tfyotfwanttffwOffSS SttOC, Mfc
tiylet, try ^$3,1330,144)0
or
$5 Shoe. TNyfltsqnsI to rate*
«*ari*v«Hp If vw villi to sewsmlze In
yoerWeri
so Iw ppchsMM W. Dwflat She**, (top# fnd
prke battel J»k for it whtaiMfctf
W*£» MM*.
THE FAUt,
PALMER&CARKY. Preps.
WOOD'S PIIOSPHOIJlNtai
The Qr«»t Enclka Remeifi
£EKS«r
((PeotniM,Kmi
otorrhea, imp
Cfief of Ainu*
IIWMto:
mtlMUct
car
dnuM
j&ssigrja
a
good night's rest."—T. A. lhgglnbothato,
Gen. Store, Long MounUuu, Va.
"Last Spring 1 was taken Cown with la
grippe. At times I w »s completely pros
trated, and so difficult was my breathing
.Uiat niy breath seemed as if confined in
t.yer's
n iron cage. I procured a bottle of
Cherry Pectoral, and no sooner
•fcad 1 begun taking it than relief fol
-flawed. I could not believe tluu the ef
fect would be so rapid."—W. H. Williams,
'Cook City, S. Dak
Lung Trouble
"For more than twenty-five years, 1
was a sufferer from lung trouble, attend
ed with coughing so severe at times as to
cause hemorrhage, the paroxysms fre
quently lasting three or four hours. I
was induced to try Ayer's Cherry Pec
1 ral. and after taking four bottles, was
|h roughly cured. I can confidently
fee mmend this medicine."—Franz llof
maan, Clay Centre, Kan*.
AYER'S
Cherry Pectoral
Prepared by Dr. J. C. Ayer &Co., Lowell, Maw.
Bold by all Druggiiti. Price $1 six bottles,f&.
Promptto act, sureto curt
Notlccki-
L«ft#OHrei! i»t SuiJMl wiltot*, Answer
Notice 18 hereby niv*n thnt thelollow.
ing named pettier ba filed notice of his intention
to nittke fioM.1 proof in ttip|ort of hi* claim, and'
that paid proof will be made before the clerk of
the circuit court, in aud for Lake county, h. !., at
Madison, 8. D., on October 14th, 1H98, viz.: John
W. Hurry, for the northeast quarter of section
JT, »owiinbiii 105, N., ranije 5a, W., 5th 1'. M.. (T,
C. E. No. 14(W). Me names the following wit.
neMep to prove hiB cotittnoone residence upon?
and cultivation of i»aid land, viz.: GeorccWafckey^
Henry Htonefleld, Albert htonefleld and Dctler
Peterson, all of Madison 1'. O., H. D.
K. N. KKATZ, Register.
Notice.
Land office at Mitchell, South Dakota, AanM
•2s, IRftl. Notice it hereby g.ven that the follow
iujj named settler ha* filed notice, ot her inten.
tion to make final proof in support of her claim,
and that said proof will be made before the clerk*
ol the circuit court, in and for Lake county, S,
D., on October 11, 1893, vis: Mariah Barton,
widow of Smith Barton, deceased. lor the
section IT, township 107. ramie M, (H. E. No.
She name* the following witnessed t#
prove her continuous residence upon and cnlti
vatiun of.'faid IhiiU, viz Joc^pli Cress, of 1V
mona. aud Robert Ohv»r, fdgar Laaghlin and
G. wall, of Madison, 8. D.
H. KRATZ,
Kegiater.
Mortgage Sale.
Default ha* been made in the cond:tions of a
mort| :i£c cocituuiiue power of sale, dated April
2nd, 188*, and recorded on the Srd day of May,
1888, in the office of the Kegidter of leed« of Lake
county, Territory of uakota, now State of Sonth
Dakota, In lok "U" of mortgacee, page INS.
whereby William B. Wood and Emma E. Wood
his wife, mortjtairor*, mortgaged to Geo. H.
Brace, mortgagee, the west half of the west half
of ihe southeast quarter of section T, township
1*4, KaUi/e &4. in said Lake coantv, S. D.. by
which default the power of sale has bee me oper
ative, and no action or proceeding at law
been instituted to recover the debt secured there
by or any part thereof. The amonnt claimed to
be due on ssid morteage at the date hereof la
$372.25, besides the sum of Jfrfi attorney's f#e
stipulated for in said morteairt, to which should
be added th»- taxes on premises described in said
mortestre, and nmonntlnr to 11.64. Now notice is
hereby eiven that by virtue of said power, said
mortgage will be foreclosed, and said premises
sold at auction by the sheriff of said county, or
his deputy, on Monday, the 23rd day of Octobar,
1W«3, ai 10 o'clock a. ro., at the front door of the
court bouse in Madison, 8. I) to pay said debt,
attorney's fees and disbursements allowed Iwr
law. D*te& Hioux Falls, S. D., September 8th,
1883.
GfeO. H. BRACK, Mortgagee.
Paul 8. Kxowuts, Attorney for Mortna^ee.
Constable's Sale on Tax War-ant.
State of South Dnkota, conntv of Lake, sb:
Notice Js hereby given. That by virtue ol tax
warraut to nie directed and delivered, and now
in my bands, issimi by ihe county treasurer In
and for the county of Lake, in the Kate of South
Dakota, upon an amount of personal properly
for taxation lor the year'A, D, 1W3, a transcient
aud itinerant stock of merchandise owned aQd
possessed by Harper Bros. A Co,, and brought
nto said Lake county for sale on or about Octo
ber 10. lsR'j, I have levied upon the following de
scribed personal property of said Harper Brot,
& Co. to satisfy snid taxes and amounting to
$73.00. to wit: Twenty two csi) sacbf contain
ing 100 pounds each of grannlatcd sugar. Aad
that I shall, on Monday, the 2Hd day of Octo
ber, A. D. lbHH, at the hoar of 2 o'clock p. of
said day, at the front door of Hubbell Br(M
barn, In the city of Madison, In said county and
state, proceed to sell all the right, title and ia
terest of the above-named Harper Bros. A Co. tn
and to the above described property to satisfy
said taxes and costs, amounting to seventy:
three dollars, together with all accruing coats of
sa'e, to the highest bidder lor cash.
GEO. MEAD,
tor
county, ~. D.
kakeriew Township, Lake
Mortgage Sale
Whereas, default
of thP principal and Interest on the moneyee
e
11 red by a mortgage dated the 24th day of S»'ptem
ber. 1HK7, executed'bv Henry Smith and KniilyJ.
Smith, to Hiram I). Vpton, and which mortgage
wa* recorded in the office of the register of deofls
of th» county of Lake, state of South Dakota, in
book of inortgHgen, on pages -Jty, 2W. at 4
o'clock p. in.. 011 the Wth (fay"of September, 1S87
and, whereas, Ilinun I). I'pton did, on the -M day
of N ovember, 1WI1, duly asnign said mortgage to
Wilbur F. Smith, said assignment being recorded
in the office of the register of deedc of Lake
county, utate of South Dakota, on the 2SM day of
December, 1891, at 4 o'clock p. 111., in book of
mortgages, 011 page '34 ann, whereas, on the
14th Say of April, said mortgage was dnlv
assigned bv tsaid Wilbur F. Smith to r. F. McCul
longh, said assignment being duly filed in the of
fice of the register of deeds of Lake county, South
Dakota, on the iMth day of September, 1W98, at ft:66
o'clock a. ni., and recorded in book ltf, page 40
aild, whereas, no action or proceeding at law or
otherwise have ieen Instituted to recover the
debt secured by said mortgage or any part there
of and, whereas, default nas been made in the
payment of the principal sum together wi .hthe
accrued interest secured by said mortgajte when
due and, whereas, the whole amount of the prin
cipal and interest has become due and payable
and, whereas, it is stipulated iu wid mortgage is
substance that if the mortgajreor shall rail to pay
the taxes on said land des riled tn said mortgage
when due, that the mortgagee may pay the same
and the amount so paid with interest at 12 per
cent, per annum whall I* secured by th** above de
scriled mortgage and, whereas, the mortgagee
bus paid the taxes on said land which with the
principal and interest to date on said taxes
amounts to $180.4) and, whereas, it, is stipulated
in said mortgage that in the event of the fore
closure of the wuiip, $45.00 shall lie allowed as
attorney fee* and, whereas, the amount claimed
to be dr'ie on said mortgage at the date of this no
tice is $.*Ml.(ft, And the tax#* paid amount to £180.
40, and the attorney's fee of $45.00, Now, there
fore, notice is hereby given that by virtue of the
power of sale contained in said mortgage and duly
recorded as aforesaid, and in pursuance of the
statute# in such ease made and provided, the
said mortgag® foreclosed ty a sale of the
mortgaged premise* therein described, at public
auction, at the front door of the court honse, in
tbe city of,Madison, and county of Lake, and state
-of South Dakota, on the IStti day of November,
1803, at one o'clock In tbe afternoon of that day.
The mortgaged premises are situated In the coun
ty of Lake and state of South Dakota, and de
scried as follow#, to wit: 1-ot ten (10), in bleck
twenty ("-JO), original plat of the town of Madison,
Dakota, fsow Sonth Dakota), according to the
receniMl plat of said to'wn, in the office of the
register of deeds in and for Lake 'toflftty, South
PstQd'st Madison, South Dakota, this 2nd day
of
October,
A.
}'. ¥\McCTJLLOUOHJ:
Asstlne® at Mortgaged
MADISON
i-i-A- oi
Mill.
f"
•TMEcts
SUB-BIT •Off
OF SOOTH DAKOTA.
MADISON
*18 LIGHTED BY—
The Streets Illuminated by 12 Arc Lights
The Most Complete Plant in the State.
w State Chautauqua
ASSEMBLY GROUNDS
Allt4K£ MADISON, three and one-half miles southeast
the city. Connected by Motor line
A Large Number of State
Meetings are held at the
ChautauquaGttHuada ©very
summer.
The Lake provided with
the Steamer "City of Mad
ison," capable of carrying
150 persons.
A Beautiful Sheet of Water, Eight
Miles Long and Two Miles Widfc,
Two and one-half miles west of the city
surrounded by beautiful groves
of natural timber.
MADISON
lift A
Mnctiml Center
The seat of the St&te Normal School. Value of Normal
buildings, $55,000. The Normal School is now in ses
sion, with over 250 students from various parts of the
state in attendance.
Excellent City Schools. New Central School build
ing recently completed at a cost of $20,000.
MADISON
Is the home ot Nine Churches!
Excellent Society. Stone and
Brick Business Buildings
THE-
Freight and Passenger Divisidn-
the S. M. Div. of the C., M. & Sti
P. R'y running north and west.
fine Brick IQ-Siall Round Ho»3e.
MADISON
Is a great Grain Market. Seven El'
evators, Flat House and. Roller
Lake County has NEVER Experienced a
"Crop Failure.
CITY PROPERTY
And FARM LANDS can be purchased at reasonable
prices.' HOMESEEEJE8 are cordially invited to settle
in
this community.
For additional barticitlars concerning the resources of
this section, prifcet ef City Property, Farin Landti/etc., ete.y
TiUIAS.
of
B: l^fNEDY
Madison South DakotaS