the day is bright and sunny | Life on a Colorado Farm

Sometimes we forget just how far we have come in the conveniences of our day:

From the Past

Compiled from Delta Newspapers by the Delta County Historical Society

251 Meeker Street, Delta, Colorado, 81416 (970) 874-8721

From the Delta County Independent

August 22, 1913

President Joe Cook of the Mississippi Normal College believes that the first step in the education of women in our country should be the elimination of needless farm drudgery. NO matter how good the rural school may be, he declares it cannot help permanently in making life in the country attractive unless there goes with it the movement to lighten the labor of women on the farm.

The water supply in particular rouses President Cook’s indignation. He is convinced that as much as nine tenths of the drudgery of women on the farm is due to antiquated methods of handling the water supply. The getting of water from the source of supply to the point of application requires more manual labor than any other item of housekeeping. The water for the kitchen has to be lifted from the well, carried to the kitchen, poured out of the kettle into the dishpan, and from the dishpan out of doors. This makes six times the water is handled, and a bucket of water containing two gallons, with the containing vessel, will weigh 20 pounds.

The cooking of three meals a day on a meager allowance of water will necessitate ten buckets, which will make for cooking alone 1,200 pounds of lifting a day. When to this is added the water necessary for bathing, ,scrubbing and the weekly wash, it will easily bring the lift per day to a ton: and the lifting of a ton a day will take the elasticity out of a woman’s step, the bloom out of her cheek, and the enjoyment from her soul.

To eliminate this item of drudgery is easy, according to President Cook. All that is necessary is for the farmer to realize that the farm is also the heir to modern invention; a system of water works, pump, gasoline engine, tank, bathtub, commode, kitchen sink, basin, and plenty of pipe an d valve’s.

Such a system, if intelligently planned, will not only supply all the household needs, but will supply practically all the farm needs besides.

When we were first married we had to haul our water for domestic use. As you can imagine we were not wasteful…no turning on the faucet and letting the water run and run and run while you get a glass out of the cupboard, then rinse the glass out and couple of times, stick your finger under the water to make sure it is cold, then filling up the glass with the water, getting a couple of swallows of water for a drink, dumping the rest of the full glass out, THEN turning the water off.

Nope! Never ever anything like that…although, I did have visitors that would do so. I had to explain I had water in the refrigerator all nice and cold if they would like some. (It doesn’t pay to be rude, you know 🙂 )

Then we got ‘city water’ — water that is connected RIGHT TO YOUR HOUSE! Oh the joy!

We still are careful about the use of water (it is such a precious commodity, as all of you so well know), but having it right here at the house in the amount we need without hauling it is so lovely.

The day is bright and shinning and beautiful! The sun came out yesterday and started drying up all the rain. Harvest will begin again for those to whom the rain stopped!