Ways of Living.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 429, 4 August 1904, Page 3

Ways of Living.

AN ENGLISH GIBL TN CANADA, aay girl who reads this think of coming oat; to housekeep SOS for her brother, my advics to her is to come, if she can make herself happy in a life where work is the main thing, though there are very ' good times' to be had too, especially if one is fond of a c.unbry life. Biding is to. me oaa greaj; ..attraction here. It is delightful to get on a nice horse and lope at will across the undulating prairie, with its bates and coutees (little bills and valleys), and sometimes one can do a little amateur cow-punching! It is wonderful to see in how small a space & really good cattle horse can turn—ahnoafc as the saying is on a fire-cent piece. Horsas are turned by the cowboys solely by neck-reining. Some of the animals here are unfit for a lady to ride, but there are always gentle ones to be found, and very often a horso that will buck with a man will be as quiet as a lamb when iicldea by a lady: this w often due to the fact, I think, that the latter does not use spurs—the men are sometimes obliged to do so. Some of the Western girls who have ridden almost since babyhood can sic a bucking-horse better than the majority of men. I Backing is a habit soms horses never ee&in to grow out. of—we have one who wu! buck as hard as he can at times either when ridden or driven, and he has reached the mature age of six, I happened to see the best rider in these parts sticking on a broncho which was bucking for all it was worth. I heard afterwards that the animal eventually got him off, but only dy dint.of bucking itself out of its saddle! Biding astride for ladies is becoming more common round here than formerly—a custom which does not appeal to me, although I can well believe that when a girl has to tide immense distances it is better both for horse and rider.

Ranehe life is, I am sure, a very healthy oria, and if girls at horns realised how much use they would be out here I expect mere would come—even if one is not very competent in hottse-work one can soon pick up how to do things. In the length and breadth of the. British Isle one could not bave found a more utterly undomssticated person than! was when I left home. At any rate one pan get'a simple meal ready for the men when they, coma in played out from pitching hay, palling aogies out of alkali bog-horses, or nearly perished with cold alter terrible 1 winter rides, as the case may be, Just imagine, in the latter instance especially/ how dole, ful it; is for** man who is < batching' it to arrive at a cold, cheerless'hoasa and have to Bet to work light the fire before he eta even get a cup of tea—that is the drinlc par excellence here, and is ooneumed almost in every house at each of the three daily meals. The ideal thing would ha for two sisters or friends to come oat together, lack of feminine eoinpanionahip being a great drawback. However nice the men are, and they are wonder fully good to one, they can never quitei t*ke the place of a girlfriend, >sv _ ,