Soapweed
Well-known member
Essay by Steve Moreland in 1969, which won an expense-paid week-long trip to Washington, D.C. with 37 other kids from South Dakota. It was sponsored by the LaCreek Electric Association of Martin, SD.
BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH RURAL AREA COVERAGE
A typical day on our ranch begins at five o'clock a.m. Half the lights in the house come on, and the electric water pump seems to run constantly for about fifteen minutes. My mother cooks breakfast (almost entirely with electricity) while the menfolk go outside to do chores. This last task is made easy with the help of a mercury light overlooking the barnyard. In the "good old days," quite a bit of time was spent chopping ice for the corrals. Now, even this drudgery is eliminated by automatic waterers with heating elements.
On a winter day, hauling hay to the cattle comes next on the agenda. We are not a very mechanically-minded outfit, and luck usually goes against us when it comes to starting a tractor on a cold day. When all other methods fail, a space heater is propped into position and within minutes the tractor starts with a heart-warming roar.
Very seldom does a day go by when some type of breakdown does not occur. Whatever the trouble, the magical touch of an electric welder makes it almost new again.
Although work in the great outdoors is of general preference, any up-and-coming farm or ranch must maintain a shop. Electric saws, drills, air-compressors, sickle sharpeners, and other appliances save many man-hours each week. With the scarcity and high cost of labor, these items are becoming necessities instead of luxuries. Electric mane clippers, branding irons, dehorners, and the like all have their places on today's ranch. Not only do they save time, but also usually do the job more effectively.
A modern home-maker would have an entirely different type of life without electricity. Washers, dryers, and dish-washers save many back-breaking hours, and an electric iron is a much improved method over the old flat iron. Food is better preserved with the help of refrigerators and freezers. Houses are now supplied with a bath instead of a "path."
Even today's youngsters have it soft. No longer is it necessary to go out every day and pick up "prairie coal." The job of carrying water is eliminated. Studying is made easier with electric lights and involves much less eye strain than by using kerosene lamps. Any leisure time can be spent watching television, listening to a radio, or pecking at an electric guitar—all impossibilities of the past.
Had it not been for the establishment of the REA and related cooperatives, the vast majority of people engaged in agriculture would still be without electricity. The Rural Electrification Administration was established in 1935. It was an act authorizing government loans to cooperatives which are consumer-owned, to serve rural areas with electricity. Without this long term, low interest financing, the cost of electricity would by prohibitive and agriculture would still be in the dark ages.
Electricity has molded an entirely new pattern of life, greatly improving the standard of living. The last frontier has truly vanished into the sunset.
BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH RURAL AREA COVERAGE
A typical day on our ranch begins at five o'clock a.m. Half the lights in the house come on, and the electric water pump seems to run constantly for about fifteen minutes. My mother cooks breakfast (almost entirely with electricity) while the menfolk go outside to do chores. This last task is made easy with the help of a mercury light overlooking the barnyard. In the "good old days," quite a bit of time was spent chopping ice for the corrals. Now, even this drudgery is eliminated by automatic waterers with heating elements.
On a winter day, hauling hay to the cattle comes next on the agenda. We are not a very mechanically-minded outfit, and luck usually goes against us when it comes to starting a tractor on a cold day. When all other methods fail, a space heater is propped into position and within minutes the tractor starts with a heart-warming roar.
Very seldom does a day go by when some type of breakdown does not occur. Whatever the trouble, the magical touch of an electric welder makes it almost new again.
Although work in the great outdoors is of general preference, any up-and-coming farm or ranch must maintain a shop. Electric saws, drills, air-compressors, sickle sharpeners, and other appliances save many man-hours each week. With the scarcity and high cost of labor, these items are becoming necessities instead of luxuries. Electric mane clippers, branding irons, dehorners, and the like all have their places on today's ranch. Not only do they save time, but also usually do the job more effectively.
A modern home-maker would have an entirely different type of life without electricity. Washers, dryers, and dish-washers save many back-breaking hours, and an electric iron is a much improved method over the old flat iron. Food is better preserved with the help of refrigerators and freezers. Houses are now supplied with a bath instead of a "path."
Even today's youngsters have it soft. No longer is it necessary to go out every day and pick up "prairie coal." The job of carrying water is eliminated. Studying is made easier with electric lights and involves much less eye strain than by using kerosene lamps. Any leisure time can be spent watching television, listening to a radio, or pecking at an electric guitar—all impossibilities of the past.
Had it not been for the establishment of the REA and related cooperatives, the vast majority of people engaged in agriculture would still be without electricity. The Rural Electrification Administration was established in 1935. It was an act authorizing government loans to cooperatives which are consumer-owned, to serve rural areas with electricity. Without this long term, low interest financing, the cost of electricity would by prohibitive and agriculture would still be in the dark ages.
Electricity has molded an entirely new pattern of life, greatly improving the standard of living. The last frontier has truly vanished into the sunset.