Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Year…1905.
One Hundred Years Ago: What A Difference A Century Makes!
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the year 1905.
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
A 3 minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
90 percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as “substandard”.
Sugar cost 4 cents a pound, eggs were 14 cents a dozen and coffee was 15 cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little look back to 1905. I hope you have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
Autumn Hiking, Part 4.
Hi everyone! Here we are with the final part of our hike. Enjoy!
Hey, a long stick, that will make it easier to cross, I said. Right, said dad. Really, just use it like a cane, stick it in the creek as we walk across, said I. Off I went. The log was very slippery but the branch did help. Here, I said as I tossed it back to dad. The branch hit the side of the creek in some wet mud and splattered the mud onto dad. My glasses, he shouted, they’re covered in mud. Wash them in the creek, I called back. He bent over to do so. And slipped on the mud. He just kind of slowly went down into the creek. Right up to his waist.
That was too much. The look of terror on Dad’s face. Priceless. Dad decided to walk across the creek. He figured he was wet anyway, so why not? Makes sense, I guess. My glasses are still streaky and dirty, he said. You should have been more careful, I said. I should have stayed home, he said. The rain had almost stopped. Good, I said, now maybe we won’t get so wet. Dad just looked. That was it. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I burst out laughing. I laughed half way up that hill. You go up first, said dad. Naturally. Suddenly it started to rain hard.
It wasn’t easy going up, especially with all that rain. That hill was all rock. With some trees. And a lot of moss. Wet moss is very slippery. Get going, he said, can’t you see it’s raining? We’re already soaked, I said, can’t get any wetter. Off we went. Everything was going good until my foot hit some moss. I slipped. And slid down. Poor dad. He tried to get out of the way. And did jump off to the side. I tried to miss dad so moved to side as I was sliding. Whump! Seems my foot collided with dad’s stomach. He sat down. Tired?, I asked. Dad just looked. After he relaxed for a bit we continued our climb.
I’ll go first, said dad. That’s odd, he always wanted me to go first. About 2 thirds of the way dad suddenly stops. I didn’t notice that. I bumped into him just slightly. He sat down again. Tired?, I asked. Dad just looked. It’s okay, we can stop for a while, I continued. Dad said shhh. Why, who’s going to hear us? Dad pointed up the hill. There was a black bear just starting to come down, heading our way. I moved a bit to get a better look. Stepped on a loose rock. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!, yelled dad. The bear stopped, then took off running.
That got him running, I said. BONEHEAD!, said dad, you stepped on my ankle. Oh, I said, I thought it was a loose rock. Someone has a loose rock, said dad. Not sure what he meant by that. We kept on going and finally made it to the top. No sign of the bear. Which was nice. The rain stopped but we still had some thick undergrowth ahead. Dad said, you go first. Naturally. He was a long way behind me so I stopped to let him catch up. He was probably tired by now. Once he was close I continued. Back at the car dad was definitely tired. The sun was shining again. Hardly a cloud in sight. Hey, we should go back, I said. BONEHEAD, was all he said. Nice to know he enjoyed the trip.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 