The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-07-24
NUMBER Is.
Hard Times in the Smith Family.

AMN
It has been hard yea in the noun
tains of East Tennessee, not that work
has been particularly scarce, for work il
worse than starvation with many Of
them in that benighted region; but whis-
ky regulates the market, and that has
been high and brought many proud
family low.
Now the Smiths were one Of the proud
families of that region. They lived on
a ten-acre patch at the foot of the noun
tain; They had an old, poor horse that
wouldn't make shadow in thesunshine,
and knock-kneed COW, with horn bro
ken off. while the rest Of the family
consisted of Caleb Smith, his wife, and
nine red-headed, freckle-faced girls and
boys, after the pattern of the mother,
beside seven dogs and five cats.
The Smiths would scratch in little
corn each season to carry TO the u and
the mill, and make mp the rest If the
living by fishing, hunting, and lounging
round the tavern, while the smaller
children would play "numbley peg"
and it kept Mrs. Smith busy cooking,
smoking her pipe, spanking the children,
and laying it down to Smith. Washing
was such laborious task that it was
only done once month, at the creek,
and then it was only done in sections, SO
that one washday the Toys would go
without their shirts, and the girls like
wise. The Smith mansion was not a
pretentious affair, nor were shey partic-
ularly stuck up over it, although it
was not to be sneezed at. il consisted
of an elaborate log structure Of one
room, and loft foored with roofing
boards, with a ladder, up which the
young Smiths would 60 to roosf at night,
when they didn't sleep in the corncrib TO
keep old Bill Robinson from making of
with their corn. The monotoBy of this
upstairs life was occasionally relieved,
when they had company down stairs, by
one OF the boards tilting UP and drop
ping one OF tine girls partially through
the floor.
This WAS the status OF the Smiths
when the hard times began. Their corn
had not turned out we'll, and the distil-
lery increased the toll, so it did not leave
much to go to mill, and the stone that
they balanced the corn with in the other
end of the sack was too heavy, and pull
ed the Smith boy, corn and all, of into
the creek; and, you see, such things as
this played smash with the Smith fam.
lily. They had TO eat just like folks
who worked for their living, and, tC
make matters worse, Smith didn't xii
/ any wildcat that season TO get the boun
ty on its scalp, and it didn't take long tc
bring them down to their last hoe-cake
and Smith couldn't sing that soul-in.
spring song any more: ooh, Sally, ge
your hoe-cake done" Smith had al
offer to chop cord-wood, but never Liked
chopping no hoC.
Now Smith started out one evening
about sundown with his rife, and fl.er'
was determination in his eyes-any on
could tell he meant business. Was h.
going to pop the old distiller over, ant
run the whisky mill himself? or was h
going TO lay for some traveller with
saddle-bag full of lunch? Smith, how
ever, relieved all anxiety on this poin
BY returning after dark with an old
poor hog across his shoulder that Dor
deacon Snoggle's ear-mark; and, a
Smith was out of salt, the next mornin
found the hams, shoulders and side
hanging up in his smoke house with
cob-fre round them. There was joy !
the Smith family, bnt, of course, wit
so many mouths to feed one no
wouldn't last long; and when Smith re
turned next time with his rife, an
couldn't find single porker at larg
matters began to look desperate; thei
was only one little slice of Eat bacon lef
and that had to go as far as possible, s
Smith studied all night, and had tn
problem solved by breakfast time ne,
morning He just got Mrs. Smith an
the nine children all in a row, and
took that slice of bacon and tied it on
string, and he went through from Il
old woman down TO the youngest chill
and let them swallow that piece of
bacon, and then he'd pull il back vii
Y the string for the next ones breakfas
! and, poor, self-sacrifcing man, wh'
:; they had all breakfasted off it, he tho
n took the string of, and it went down h
e own throat never to return. That df
r, he killed a wildcat and got the bount
= and the fish began to bite, and d
:, Smiths again reveled in plenty.