Bold Spirit - Linda Hunt [55]
Courtesy Ohio Historical Society, Collection SC4835.
On the following day, a reporter from the Alliance Daily Review in Alliance, Ohio, interviewed Helga and Clara as they passed through the city in the afternoon. Too much in a hurry to stop, the reporter “met the ladies in the west yards and walked with them to Freedom Street.” After first observing that “both are quite intelligent,” the reporter described Clara, noticing “that the latter is quite good looking.”15 Clearly still enthused at the generous reception they received at the President-elect’s, the reporter commented that “Mrs. Estby and daughter were highly pleased with their treatment at the home of the McKinleys” and assumed “they are both ardent Republicans.” Recognizing sickness and an accident “have thrown them behind somewhat,” the reporter explained the $10,000 wager, the looming deadline, and their determined spirits, stating simply, “They expect to win it.”16
In two days, they planned to be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a major milestone and the beginning of their last major state to traverse. With each day bringing them closer to their goal, which now seemed very viable, their excitement grew.
15 THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS
Mrs. Estby fears that the woman with whom the wager was
made will refuse to pay the $10,000…. that the daughter’s
sprained ankle will not be allowed to count as sickness.
—NEW YORK WORLD
DECEMBER 24, 1896
Almost two weeks later, in early December, the dusty, “tired, but brave” mother and daughter arrived in Sewickly, Pennsylvania. The local newspaper described Clara as “sprightly,” and noticed she “did not appear to dread the remaining distance.” Helga, seen as a “slight built, but a determined-looking woman,” presented the signatures of governors and officials of all the states and cities through which they had passed as proof they had visited these places. Each new destination strengthened Helga’s sense of achievement as she reiterated her confidence to the reporter. “Mrs. Espey [sic] was confident she would reach her destination on time and carry off the $10,000 prize.”1
In western Pennsylvania, men began to harass the mother and daughter, exactly what others warned them about before they left Spokane. Walking through coal-mining country, the miners and highwaymen threatened them so constantly, Helga said “they didn’t hesitate to brandish their revolvers.” After rarely encountering trouble with other “tramps” along the journey, they told a Lebanon, Pennsylvania, reporter that “people were much too lenient with them here.”2
They walked from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, where they visited Governor Daniel Hastings in the capitol building. Because the contract required only the signatures of mayors after Chicago, they must have enjoyed the receptions they received if they chose to drop in on the governor. Then they traveled through the Pennsylvania Dutch county of Berks. Here the people treated them “exceptionally well and showed them very marked attention.”3 These Amish and Mennonite farmers fled to America from Germany and Switzerland so they could practice their religion without fear. They developed a peaceful land, where the patchwork of neatly laid out farms reflected the settlers’ industry and care. The kindnesses they gave Helga and Clara inevitably included meals from their productive crops. However, “the strange dialect spoken by the natives almost caused the westerners to die of laughter.”4
Jubilation mixed with anxiety as their deadline loomed. Helga and Clara took a rare opportunity to ride on a trolley after they left Hummelstown at 6 o’clock in the morning. They rode through Annville, Lebanon, and on to Myerstown, “from where they were obliged to walk to Womelsdorf, when they could take the trolley again.” Mrs. Estby said, “Among the stipulations of the contract we made are that we must not beg and [we can] either walk or ride on electric cars.”5
Possibly the contract allowed the electric car rides