The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-02-18


gave out to each other, over and over
again, the words in the lesson to be
spelled at school next day. When they
were sure they could spell all the words,
| they put up the spelling book and went
up the ladder into the loft and brought
down a lot of walnuts. The father was n
a rough shoemaker. and had a small kit
of tools. With the shoe-hammer, with
its broad, round, bright lace. they cracked
the walnuts on the great hearthstone,
and with an awl picked out the rich ler-
nels The boy became sleepy, and lay
down before the great, roaring log fire.
His mother was spinning fax. The fly
CTS of the old spinning wheel made a
humming, buzzing sound, which was
sweet music to the sleepy boy. The flyers
of spinning wheel, when under full
way, turn perhaps three hundred times
in second. The boy was soon after
wards sound asleep in his trundle-bed.
When he awoke next morning, before
daylight, his mother was getting break
fast. She had johnnycake, pork, honl-
my and dittany tea for breakfast The
johnnycalle board was made of a piece oil
clapboard, some two and half feet in
length, and six inches wide The nice
yellow corn meal had pinch of salt put
into it, and a spoonful of fresh lard. 1t
was then made into dough by pouring in
hot water, was well kneaded with the
hands, and patted upon the clean board,
being about one inch thick The hearth
was swept clean, and the board laid neal
ly fiat, so ii at the edge of the dough was
baked. Then the other edge was turned
to the fire. This was done to cause the
dough to adhere or stick to the board
Then a a smoothing iron or a stone was
placed behind the board, and it was set
nearly in perpendicular position before
the fire until the cake turned brown. 1t
was then laid on the table, case knife
passed between the halEbaked cake and
the board. 1t was then set on edge, the
baked side leaned against the left arm,
with the right hand the board was slid
up from the cake and placed on the
before the fire and the other side baked
brown. The two ends gently curved
from the board towards the fire as it
baked. The cake was now baked in the
middle, the fiat sides put together, and
it was wrapped in a clean table cloth to
sweat until the pork and hominy were
done. This johnnycake was the sweet
est, purest, most wholesome bread, man
or boy ever ate.
The pork was none of your fat, clam
my, scroiuious stuff from modern hogs,
fatted on. sinking still slops, or the
blood and carrion of the slaughter house.
and snOuts, were not very fat, but what
fat they had was the product Of the clean
acorns of the forest The meat had the
pleasant taste of the meat of wild game,
and the slices OF the side-mcat were
streaSed with fat and lean alternately.
The hominy was none of your chopped
stuff bought at the stores, but it was, like
everything else, home product. A half
bushel of corn was put into kettle, and
lye OF pure wood ashes put in. 1t was
boiled until the brain rubbed off easily
Then it was washed in several waters,
and rubbed with the hands until all the
bran was of, and washed out of the YES
sci. The clean white grains were then
boiled for several hours, until they be-
came tender, and began to burst open.
This was the hominy. t was then put
away in a cold room, and often became
frozen, which made it better. The boy S
mother took some OF this cold hominy
and put it into cast iron oven, and with
the large end of the iron wedge pounded
and mashed it. An iron wedge was used
by the farmers TO split rails 1t weighed
three or four poGnds, and when washed
clean was very nice to pound the homi-
ny. In this pounded hominy was poured
the fryings of the bacon, salt was put in,
and the hominy was fried.
Dittany is a plant that grows on the
! tops of the hills. 1t is a pungent, heat
ing herb and was gathered in the fall
and tied in punches and hung up in the
loft, and used for tea. When sweetened
with maple sugar, and rich cream put in,
it was not only palatable, but healthy.
There was much more which | saw in
my dream, but l must not take time to
relate it. But it did seem to me that
there was much that was pleasant and
healthful in the simple lives of these peo,
pie. There was no pneumonia in those
days. There could be no foul air in the
log cabins, when the pure air rushed in
throug gh a hundred crevices in floor,
door and loft. while the pure air was
kept comfortably warm by the roaring
wood fire There could be no dyspepsia
with food so simple, and exercise 50
abundant.
In my dream l saw the boy and his
sister starting to school, and l thought
heard the hum of the old spinning
wheel, when suddenly l awoke, and
found that instead of the spinning wheel
it was the soft music OF the piano in the
adjoining room. 1t was eight o'clock in
the morning, and the sick mans dream
was ended.
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