San Francisco Chronicle from San Francisco, California • Page 5

in hi iiiiiiwipiiimiii hi imbmiii iiii iiwipiwwwuiii iiiphiiiii in mil mill i ihmhiii ihpmiwpwwiiimiwhihii wi iwm i ii ih i i i uiw i iipi i nn 1 1 in i 1 i ii i pipmiiii iiiw wi i nniiiwi 5 11 JJfliifJ7ilK W1tSV lff il3PFSmWmStTrrZ7MA HfKiWii WPWtrt r2MV rWil WVi wmiPaPrc wwym A Whttimit Dacko larminfl Miss Florence Mitchell Gives Her Health Money and Fun Reasons for Lining Farm Work and for Advocating It as a Pursuit for Women MISS FLORENCE MITCHELL went back to farming this year for a reason for sev eral reasons all of which sound good To have them sound good after another summers work Is to pay a high compliment to the farm idea The fact is that she has done it again She doesnl understand why men dont like farm work To get to be strong and well to gain 30 pounds in weight to pay all expenses have a good time and save 60 in rash this looks like a comfortable record for a very practical outing I shall never return to city life she says Miss Mitchell whose father Caleb Mitchell was for some time president of the village of Saratoga Springs has had an unusually good education For this reason she is making a successful executive officer for the Womans Land Army in supervising the work of more than 500 farmerettes in various camps this season in the fruit growing section of Ulster county New York By Florence Mitchell I HAVE often wondered how long the little hall room girl of the city would consider her life worth while if she once could have a taste of farm life I wonder how many of the hundreds of thousands of girls who toil in factory and shops and homes of the big crowded cities have saved at the end of the year as much money as I saved in four months on the farm last summer I wonder how many working girls can at the end of the year look at themselves in the glass with satisfaction as the pallor of indoor work shows in their faces and those little wrinkles of despair around the eyes begin to tell the story of a life devoted to making both ends meet I know something of the working girls life for I tried it myself for a time in the city However my case was a bit different from the many for I had relatives in New York city and so I was never lonely nor because of this was I subjected to the worry of getting along should I lose my position or meet with disappointment in my work However I often used to think of the thousands of good wholesome fine looking girls pegging away day after day at the same kind of work Then I thought of the millions of acres in this splendid country where girls could live healthy normal happy lives under the sun and stars and have their lives enriched by the beauty of nature all about them I felt the call of the country last spring so strongly that I decided to do something about it I presume this was quite natural in my case not being a native New Yorker Most of my life had MIPKaGKrMSHB sI7C9eT7C2fiHrSKMMB ittaWsaWltfnU JBaB3raM aaaBaimfW anflKHBnBBmiwP3l aB rsHRsMaaaaaKflaWnnaBaaaaaBV aBffPJ aaaaaaaaw tl WycaaaaaBBBaaTBTOPflaaBaaaWBaT Kilslasl yiAlim99KKKwWKSiSK HBEBJaWtiiisflKHsa KKzKK2HflflHHNHDVr i 2lflBaBBaaaaaaaaaaafiaaaHBa HHPI 7lUHHaaKHaH aaaHvsafaVHnBaaaaaaaaaHHaVMaawlf vtfe rliSlaHBHaamHMHHaaSaaiffiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaV aaaaraUSaSaaaaaHaflaaaaaaaaaaUl fMlaf IIHDaaH iPfHKfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai iaaaaaaaaaaasaaaaa7aaaaaaaaaaaUaaafl3laHtauVaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa MSs 2SIF SelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalBBBaaBaaaaaHf saaflBaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalaaaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaV aaaaaaaaaMsaaaamVKeaaHEPHSBeaK sssBKIttsrasaaaaaaRaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa BsaaaJsaKsBMslflMaTaaaW I tHn VSaaaaaaBaafftSiaiaaaaaWaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafsaaaaaaal aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa9aaHBslSHaaak wQaaaaHaaaaMaaaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaaaaaaKsaaaaaH LaaaaaffTlal ff iJA It i Waff tf aaaHHHaaHlSR tlPw IfliPA JKl This is Miss Florence Mitchell Jm 1 nwiwVVijaaBHaaK mm worked on a farm for four months Ct jW In that time she gained 30 pounds in weight nh ft VMSXJ bk In the same period she saved 50 in cash above all expenses PBfiSMB She had a good time HawiiililPHB She believes in farm life for WOmen aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw 3iJioiiirwat jBMiaiLTpjaaLyi isaMa2aTai1Rv4saaaaaaal I BHWSS2laaail5fltlMatsaaaaaaaa jBBSBaaaaJvafK trak jfv saaaaaaaaaa I aaaaBaaaaaaawiBT3a BBaaaaaaavsfBBavaaataVtBH li4 il aaaaaaafl I aBBBBBBBBBBBpBBflaBH SWs iSi i a Ik iBBBbBBBBBBP9JBPS BBBBBpBISBBBa i 7BBJ iroi ILy BBBBBBBBal I BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBK4SBvBBBBbBBPBBFBBBBBBBBBh9Z4 wLMTmA akVJ ll BBBBBBBbI I BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHBfi ywrt4L Stj Sw BP1 jBBBBWeBBEpBMttBBBBBBBBBBBBBS afAJ flr BBBBBBBPi BPalSaaBMj jPPBrsBBBlBBBBBBBwllBHsaaaWaaaaaaaaaw aaawBrrMM jtbbbbbbbI totfrmliftvTtimt BBWBaaaaaaawaaaaaaiBBatey iy ivLaiiSsjrjjj 1 1 BaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalBjaBBBBBBBBkaBBiVialLM fe42fesHBrIS3 1 1 BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBafeBBBBBBBBBBBBBmMBui 1 1 BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB rTBBBaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBTgTfBBaiffnii 9filLMLt 3flffB5BBBBBBSaBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBK aiiBBBBBBBBBB3B BBBBBiBBBaMiiMMiiaasnittut vaaaBBBasBBBnaaseHaBBajBBMalniftf wwbbbbbI BBaaaaaaaaBBaaaaaaBBaiaf Ajh TVvBSSiKtBSiBBMimSuSuSisi BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJBFy arfiffipni fTfHmflniXfmBmKKSK Real Lifting and Hauling in Farm Work at the Barns A Trio of Farm Girls Going Out to Their Days Work been spent in Saratoga Springs and there was something about the open life that bred in ones bones is as difficult to lose as summer freckles My work at the office left me very little time to plan anything for the summer beyond Jhe two weeks vacation that I would have coming to me from the firm But the wish being father to the thought as they say it did not require any special effort on my part to carry out the first definite suggestion I received bearing on the subject closest to my heart How I Went Into Farming I used to attend tne evening lectures given by a woman physician on health at one of the high schools One evening somo women asked the doctor what she thought of the health possibilities for girls who worked on farms The Woman Land Army was mentioned during this discussion The very next day applied at the headquarters of the land army for a Job In the country I was warmly received The farmers it seemed were crying for help Within 24 hours I was asked to go to a big place on Long Island where they needed four women helpers Much to my disappointment I found the places already filled when I arrived The following day however I was told of an urgent call from Orangeburg A big dairyman said he could use 25 girls on his place if he could get them at once I took the first train to Orangeburg My employer was a big business man in the city but he had in charge of his great farm of several hundred acres a most competent man and one kindly disposed to woman farm labor I shall never forget that first day in the country It was the last day of May The1 air was fragrant with the perfume of spring blossoms Instantly I forgot that I had ever lived in the hot crowded city Beginning with Stones As the girls camp was Just being organized some ladies from the Garden Society of the town who were interested in this farmerette movement to save the crops last year volunteered to help this work along So when we arrived about 1 oclock at the village there were four other grla there already these ladies had ready for us a wonderful lunch and made us feel at home After lunch we donned overalls and stout ahoes and were set to work picking stones off the newly plowed earth We continued this work for a couple of days and then we began cutting up potatoes ready to plant We helped to plant acres of potatoes Meanwhile other girls kept arriving almost very day Most of them were girls who had worked at something in town most of them entirely dependent upon their efforts for a livelihood while a few were working from purely patriotic reasons to help produce the necessary big crops for war time purposes The Real Profit in Money They were a fine lot of girls and we had a wonderful time We were billeted in a fine big house on the estate We were paid 2 a day for our work of fight hours After deducting the amount for our board at the end of the month the camp supervisor a middle aged woman who kept house for us as it were preparing our meals and looking after us in a motherly or one might say a sisterly fashion handed us over 15 In a small place like Orangeburg where the village postoffice and the railroad station are the two important buildings of the town one can flg ure out easily that the temptation for spending money isnt great In the four months I worked I received 60 We could get ice cream sodas in the village and during the summer I blew in a few dollars on this luxury and naturally being only human and a woman at that I must confess I spent a few dollars on candy Of course we had Sunday off and we could have run into some of the nearby villages or made short excursions to summer resorts but we had no desire to do so We were enjoying the country too much We were a congenial lot of girls Some of the girls were excellent musicians and we used to have concerts Saturday evenings and invite some of the farmers and we had occasional parties I made one trip to New York city to visit my relatives and this small expense with the fiw dollars I spent on candy and sodas came to 10 so that when I left the farm in October when the last bit of hay was in and the last of the grain Was safely stored for the winter I had 50 and I felt quite rich AU Kinds of Work When I returned to town my family scarcely knew me I had gained SO pounds in four months My family thought me a bit queer when I left to take up farming They said it was a freak idea and predicted that it wouldnt last But when they saw the health I had acquired they quickly changed their minds I did all kinds of work on the farm that I have always heard men refer to as the hardest kind of work I have pitched tons of hay in a broiling hot sun when the perspiration fairly ran down my face Pitching hay Is the very finest kind of exercise It develops the muscles as no other kind of exercise can do I love It I raked hay and I helped to stack rye and other grain I had no part of the dairy work During last winter in the city I lost every pound of extra weight that I had gained on the farm As spring approached I began to long for the country Recruiting for the Land Army The latter part oilay I applied to the Womens Land Army Because of my experience last summer they asked me to become a supervisor This is a bit different It means responsibility It means that the numerous girls camps throughout upper Ulster county mustbe properly supplied with food It means the distribution of help to supply the fruit growers at the time most needed It means exercising ones imagination in the interests of the girls happiness For instance at Marlboro a village eight miles from Newburg on the Hudson where we have our county headquarters one of the fruit growers has generously given us a big building which he owns and which was formerly used as a button factory Here we are giving weekly Saturday night dances inviting the farmers and the townspeople They have been a great success If one were to see the girls dressed in their pretty summer frocks at theae entertainments one might picture the place as a popular summer resort If the camps of some of the girls are far from the village the farmers readily put their cars at the disposition of the girls and they are transported to the dance and back again I have talked with scores of girls who worked last summer on farms and they are eager to follow farming as a vocation Many young women a the result of their farm experience have bought farms of their own and others have married farmers and a farm So farming for women is no Idle dream In cases like my own it is a pleasant reality I shall devote myself to interesting women this new life because it presents more possibilities to the woman who has to earn her livelihood than anything else I know of unless the Woman happens to be a genius in some definite profession or line of work I believe farming for women will pay better returns in health in contentment and even financially than any work I know of Superstitions of the Serbians THE dally life ot tho Serbian Is said to be full of superstition Be is superstitious about the manner in which he rises in the morning about what first meets his sight how he dresses and washes and whom he meets ot what food he eats and the time and manner ot serving through out the entire day Attention Is also palij to whether the cocks crow In time whether docs bark much If frogs croak or the wind blows Again special notice Is taken of the kind of rain that falls thunder how stars shine If the moon has a halo If It shines through a cloud etc etc The Evil Bye is alone accountable for disease and death The Serbian believes that for each malady that flesh Is heir to God has given a remedy He believes that for each pain there is a healing herb He believes In witches beautiful young maidens who come forth from the dew and are nourished in a mysterious mountain They meet In the branches of trees and are most dangerous at supper time TfjE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CHRONICLE Jk js MsrfIA.