Another nice day, 14C rt now. Bowlwd in the pm then a practice in the evening. Hadf to water all the plants again, this drier weather makes a difference when you have a lot of things in pots.

Story continued:

Chapter 2.

I returned to Brussels, Ont. Via Chicago.

I secured a railway car, into which I loaded three horses, a colt, seven cows, and a bull, and other necessary effects for our farm.  I arranged a berth in which to sleep and laid out a stock of provisions to serve us between points where we could obtain meals, also a barrel of water, hay and grain for the animals, which we replenished along the way when opportunity offered.

W. Leadbeater who had clerked in father’s store in Brussels came along in the car with me.  Our car had flat wheels and thumped along on the rails and shook us all so badly and we obtained very little sleep. On reaching Detroit our car was condemned and we had to transfer to another car.

I laid in a fresh supply of food here for the stock.  The hay dealers furnished the hay in large loose bails, in order I suppose to make it appear that I was receiving an amount equal to the big price I was charged.

The stock was unloaded at the Chicago stock yards for a rest of thirty hours and during this time we took in some of the sights of the city, and attended an exhibition that was being held on the lake front park, where I saw the first barbed wire machine in operation and also a crude form of telephone apparatus.

We spent the night in our private car to guard our belongings.  The car was directly beneath a hog chute that was bridged across several switch tracks and connected with a slaughter house.  This enclosed covered chute was jammed full of hogs and they made the night hideous with their different toned squeals and grunts.

We found travelling by freight a new and novel experience.  It was difficult for us to know just where we were between terminal points.  Brakemen would frequently call on us and warn us against permitting tramps to board our car.

Each day as we rumbled along we attended to the stock as if on the farm and did the milking.  This milk we gave to the train hands and our fellow passengers who had charge of cars loaded with horses.  When on a side track, if near a house we would give the woman a pail of milk for scalding our pails.

On some sections of the road the engines would handle the cars roughly and bump the cars while shunting and cause the cows to be thrown off their feet and make a bad mix up.  We would then have to go among them and get them in place again.

We spent our spare time during the day on top of the cars, chatting and enjoying the scenery.

On arriving at St. Paul the stock was unloaded for a days rest and toward evening were pulled out on the road again.  Our train was now all composed of through freight for Manitoba, consisting mostly of horses and farm implements.

For some time before reaching Crookston the country along the line was sparsely settled, but on leaving there we were soon out in the open country without a sign of habitation anywhere and the great Red River valley stretched away in the distance east and west as far as the eye could reach.