Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-02-12
MISCELLANY.
For the Sentinel.
Then and Now.
BY 4 CITIZEN OF FAYErrE TOWNSHIP.

Then and Now.
BY 4 CITIZEN OF FAYETTE TOWNSHIP.
In course of time schools were estab-
lished. They were long distances apart.
children Travelled one to three miles to
the school house and back making in the
round trip 2 to 6 miles. These were
winter schools. There were no such
things as schools in the summer. 1t was
customary to start at day brake and re-
turn at dusk or dark The branches
taught were spelling, reading. writing
and arithmetic. The teachers taught for
80 cts a month per pupil. Three months
constituted the term. The teachers rails
cd the school by going around among the
inhabitants and asking them to send their
children. the subscribers frequently bar
gained to board the teacher through the
term, lie boarding around week at a
time. Sometimes they paid for their
board at the rate Of sl,OO per week, TAX
ing pot luck as they called it. which
consisted in such table things as rye
coffee, fried meat, pickles, bread and but
ter and apple butter for breakfast, soup
for dinner with meat, potatoes, cabbage
milk and buckwhcat cakes and apple
butter, and sometimes honey. For cup
per mush and milk and apple pic Or
bread and apple butter, this was about
the usual diet in those days.
Boys and gi,ls would go bare footed
all summer, and each get one pair course
leather shoes each year and no MORE
The boys had to patch and mend the
shoes of the family, gencrly after night,
not having time in open day. The girls
wore horn comb to keep up their hair,
and wore linsey short gown and pitticoat.
About lSl2-14 and along there men
hegau to wear boots.
In those days there was not Dear
born wagon, buggy nor suikey. or any
other kind of vehicle except giS in
all the country.
Roads were bad gcnerly. people were
engaged in clearing. and they moved the
road as often as they pleased. The con-
sequence was we were getting new stump
roads all the time The farmers visited
each other good deal then. lfa deep
snow fell the boys would gear up, and
then feed ana fodder. The girls would
milk the COWS, do up the house work,
cover the fire, and fas.en the door, while
tie boys brought the sled with lots of
clean straw in it around to the door,
where father, mother, children and all,
would get in, and lapp their limbs in
quilts, covcrlets, and away they would
go. They would 60 two three and often
eight anG ten miles on a visit and if they
got home that night with less than half a
dozen upsets they counted themselves
lucky. Perhaps often fresh snow there
would be 10 track for twenty four hours
or more, for there were no sleighs yet
made. Then to drive at tIot after
night in fresh deep snow, stumps not
visible, how easy it was to strike stump
on the larboard side and spill themselves
out into the suow, then the cry would
usually be Whoa whoa whoa ! some
crying, others laughing. All would rise
and try again. These stumps were truly
stumbling blocks in the way. ! have
often since heard people laugh over old
times and say, Hadn't we high times
then have often thought that it
was low times after a sled tripped over
a stump. Notwithstanding timber was
plenty, streams Of water were not bridg-
ed. l suppose the amount of travel did
not justify the expense. So on bitter
night jackfrost not forgetful of his game,
the sled woald go through the thin ice
plout into the creek, and the bottom of
the vehicle not being water tight, would
leak upwards, and not being as active
drilling ou. of the sled as drilling. in
about the time the passengers wanted to
dismount they didn't just get off as quick
as they got on they were frosted fast in
the straw. This we could always tell by
the squeaking noise that was heard when
the passengers wanted to get ou: after
the team had stopped.
| love to think of old times, for men
aud women were more sociable. then than
now There was no aristocracy then.
but all were equal all were dependant
on each other. They all had houses and
barns to raise. aud they worked like men.
They seemed to be glad to help each
other. They would eat heartily their
coarse food. They would drink freely of
whiskey except myself never would
drink whiskey-I claim l was the first
temperance man in our county. Though
1 did no: quarrel with them for their
much drinking, yet drank none, except
once set of men made me drunk. 1t
was the first and last time. l recollect
when there were twelve distilleries be-
tween Miflin and Rich6eld, all in full