The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-07-06
DAILY PRESS.
@ POR1LAND
Saturday NJ rning. July 6, 1867.
REPUBLICAN NOMINATION
FOR GOVERNOR,
JOSHUAL. CHAMBERLAIN
OF BRUNSWICK,
Personal "Reminiscences.

Personal "Reminiscences.
In the early part Of che present century
sw fami les used wheaton flour bread. The
.dohawk and Genessee countries had not then
been opened to us,-at least there were no
iheahs o. transportation from that region to
tn's. What flour there was In market came
by sailing vessels from Baltimore and Rich
lnond, and this IN small quantities. Rye
bread from home raised grain, coarsely ground
or in some cases bolted with flour; corn shoe
cakes" and "brown bread" constituted the
'chief st'ff of life,' amongst the people.
very common food, that indeed on which the
New Hampshire Inhabitants largely subsist-
ed, was rye hasty pudding AID molasses.-
We say, ''molasses," although neither that
name uor the liquid designated by it, was
known then. Ireacle came from Gauda-
loupe and other West India Islands, which
was, as we think, clearer and honester arti-
clio than that afterwards manufactured in
Cuba as motasses. Indian hasly-pudding and
milk also constituted. in general, the suppe,
lor children, domestics and sometimes the
heads of the household. Highly seasoned
food was very rare. Tea and coffee, .pound
c~ks" and pies were reserved for company,
The consequence was that the children grew
NJ heartier and more robust; the people er-
joyed better health and lived longer. Doc
tors services were not often called for, and
quack medicines had hardly been introduced.
We remember when such thing as a cook
ing stove was unknown. In shops and stores
box stoves of sheet iron, tor warming the
premises, we.e used, but even they, owing to
their bad construction, soon went out out OF
date; and as Tor cooking by means Of stove,
it was believed that this never could be done
with facility to the cook, or w.t.. safety to
the health of tie people Neither could
bread be baked or meat roasted IN such an
unnatural machine. Subsequent improve
ments have demonstrated the error OF these
applehensions; and now cooking by open
fires is as rare as cooking by stoves In our
earlier days. In the matter, too, of ignition,
such thing as lucier match was unknown.
The only mode OF hndling fire was by
leg raked in ashes over night and sharred TO
coal, or by box o(tinde signited by spark
from flint and steel. Most vessels at sea, &c
were provided with these means OF produc-
inS ire. But they were very inconvemont,
aid quite uncertain OF success. " hen luci-
fer matches were first brought out, The inven-
ton was accepted as ths great triumph of the
age, quite as wonderful and important a.
-Murse's magnetic telegraph which came al
forwards. Speaking OF the telegraph reminds
me oil the only thing OF the kind then known
the communications BY visiCis signals from
rude ed.fices or fr-mes erec,ed on :oast head
lands to give information TO the larger towns
OF the appearance OF snip. az sea OF in di,-
tiess. tor any other IalIose they we're qlule
useless. T
all the cotton or wooden fabrics made in
the United States at that time was iilerau,
homemade" Mr. Jefferson appear ea in sue.
an entire suit when he entered toe PIesidsnl-
ial otiice in 1905, and it was fayorite doctrins
OF his, that we should import nothing that We
could grow or Manufacture in our own coun-
Try. This idea was tbs iather Of the tariff sy.
tem,--a southern doctrine at first, but againsl
which the south turned when it appeared thai
tbs industry Oh northern free .aDor nourisbeo
bJ means OF it. A cotton or woolen iactoiy
had not Leen erected, except p~rl aps one
small cotton mill erected in tawtucAet by
Slater. The cotton was broue ht 10 our viz
isge store. irIm Carolina in baies, with the
seeds embraced in fbres-for Whitney's cot
ton gin bad not then been invsnted-and cui
women purchased the raw cotton at retail,
pic8ed the sseos out by hand, caroed the col.
Ton In their iaps, aud spun 1t on their great
wheelS," and wo,e the yarn in their wooden
haIns looms. It made a coarse but strong ano
were, indeed, brought from The East Indies,
which cost from fifty to seventy cents per yard,
but this could only be worn by the wealthy,
and was not so good as our present shee;img
at shilling per yard. As to woolen Cloth,
very much OF this was spun and woven at
home; and the fullng mills on our various
streams con 7erted the raw flannel into dress
ed cloth. English broadclotAs, indeed, were
woven to some extent, but those were reserv-
ed for visiting and Sabbath uses. Ladies were
enamouied with new style OF goods called
calico; wore hoops on their sgowns,n YAM
dykes upon their shoulders, walfed with thsir
arms bare, bosoms also bare halfway down
the chest, straw bonnets projecting beyond
the face SO far as to require something short
of an elephants proboscis to reach tho lalr
cheek, or hoods In wintsr-a comfortable
article-or "caeches" in summer thar would
turn back Ike chaise top. Gentiemen in
their meeting suits wore corduroy small
clothes buckied at the knees, bootsblackened
about the feet and ankles but surmountsd by
yellow or russell tops,a tassel on each, and
"swelled" backs capsciors enough for man.
moth "calf f;"-long-ta blue coats with gild-
ell buttons and high buclram collars; vests in
swalow-tailed shape, with buttons suspended
from metallic chains white kerchisf around
the neck; hair stuck up in front a Ia B ..ton,
with queue hanging behind the head daily
dressed and wound with black galoon. What
few chaises we're owned by the people, were
Of huge shafts, heavy wheels, wooden axle
trees and ash springs; the top resting on
thick leather thorou2h h-braces. Those were
not "iast" times A speed, on the average OF
four miles per hour with single horse, har-
messed to such cumbrous vehicle, was con-
sidered very successful journeying. The pub
Lie roads were poor. Those only were wen
drained and smooth which were made by some
corporation, and were called "turnpikes," be-
ing rounded up in the middle. having cutters
on either side OF the carriage path. There was
a turnpike nom Boston to Salem, and snoth-
er from Quincy to Boston. President John
Adams resided In Quincy, and SO opposed was
he to tax on public roads, that he never
would drive into Boston over the turnpike,
but chose always to travel the old road, hilly
and circuitous as it was. He maintained that
the public, not corporations, should provide
good roads for free travel, and that toll gate
and lee we're An imposition. TRAxI.
Free stfG Sells.