The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-08-18


of all against whom charges were made, and
while so doing to be actuated by pure motives
and above all to Brrive Mt tlst conclusions ere
they presented an indictment. Take into con
sideration all the surroundings OF TINS grand jury
and no county in this or any other state can pre-
sent parallel in point OF sublimity..
Mr.. A. X Owen, now living in Missouri, the
foreman of 4 e: Grand Jury, informs me that no
complaints were made to 1t and that the only
duty TIE bailiti had to perform was to cndeavor
to obtain II dinner for the jury. But in this he
failed being politely informed by the restaurant
er of the day that he only had provisions enough
| for the dinner of the court and sheriff | trust
| that our restauranter to-day, my old friend Hen
nv Wather, is better prepared and will feed the
multitude here with more care than he of 1881
supplied creature comforts to Judge Young and
Sheriff Walker.
We had no mills in 1872, and but little or no
grain to grind if there had been mills. We lived
upon corn bread, hominy and pork. To grind
our miserable excuse for corn, lit being raised
upon the sod and generally frost bitten,) we i'm
proyised kind of wooden mortar and pestlc.
Mechanics and mechanical tools were not
among us but, we had axes and at least a cross
cut saw in the neighborhood. An oak tree was
felled of sufficient size and piece of tile trunk
about feet long was sawed of. Anger holes
were first made, and then hot Goals were placed
on the perforated end to burn out sufficient
cavity. A case knife was then used to scrape off
the charrcd wood and thus was the mortar sup
Piled good hard wood pcstle was then made.
Shclled corn was put into the mortar when the
grinding process began by taking the pcstlc in
both hands and pounding away in earnest. We
are told that the mills of the gods grind slowly,
but if they ground as slowly as the mills of the
early settlers would have but little respect for
the particular god that made them. When We
had pounded away to our hearts content We
sc0oped out the contents of the mortar and ran
it through a scive ut least tried do to So All
that passed through the sive was made into corn
bread-the remainder was boiled for hominy
For our Sabbath day repast We ground wheat
in coffee mill and bOlted it through piece of
jacOnct strung on hoop. or this flour we
made pan cakes, as it was too coarse for bread.
Not very eXtravagant mode Of living, yet it was
the very best the country could afford, and as no
better could be had We enjoyed it and were happy
and contentcd
Tea and coffee were Inquiries we could not OBJ
tain for love or money, for there was none in the
country.
Our worst enemy and scvcrest afflcton was
aguc and fever. None escaped it, or ifso the cx-
ccptions were few indeed.
Nor is 1t to be wondered at, for no attention
was given nor effort made to obtain pure water
Holes were sunk at the edges of the slOughs
which were filled with surface water covered
with blue scum, and during hot weather TEEN
ing with animalcul;e. We called them wigglers
and since it has been asserted that blue glass is
Il great invigorator in the growth of vegetable
matter we have been inclined to believe that
blue scum is equally potent in developing wiglers
into mosquitoes and tadpOles into frogs and that
as an aguc producer the blue scummed water was
la perfect success.
We neither had any physicians or medicines
except on the botanical principle. Our qui-
nine was bOncset or wauhOO, the very thoughts
of which make us shudder even now. When the
ague came it manifested great staying qualities.
Six weeks of daily shakes were not uncommon.
Whole families were afflicted with it at the same
time, when the question as to which one was
best able to carry water from the slough was
difficult TO solve,
We were frequently compelled to live in tents
and sleep upon the ground for weeks and months
before We could collect sufficient force to raise
our little cabins. Everybody was sick with the
ague and unable to work. Our first buildings
were log cabins, generally with but one room,
which must serve rs kitchen, dining room, sit
ting room, parlor and bed room. Indoor spark
ing was almost impossibilitv as Pa, Ma and all
the mischievous brothers and sisters of your girl
persisted in lying awake to listen to what you
said and take notes of what you did Our modes
of farming and the implements We used would of
itself constitute theme for hours of description,
| will pass them briefly as | have already taken
up too much time Seven yoke Of cattle strung
out in front of bar-sharc plow with long ral<ing
wooden mould board with one man to govern the
plow and another to drivctlc team did well in
turning over two acres per day.
In crop blowing the second wear we used what
was termed the Carey pillow. 1t was similar in
construction TO the prairie pillow with wooden
mould board and coulter, but instead of cutting
the sod and turning it topsy turvy as that manu-
featured by our friend T. d. Brewster does, il
simply pushed it aside and left the soil in splen-
did condition for the growtMof weeds. Our stir
ring and corn plows were of similar constructions
fine implements for the cultivation of weeds He
who would have told us that pillow could be
made that would scour in loose soil would have
been deemed soft in the head
A paddle to remove the dirt from the mould
board was deemed as essential as the pillow itself
These plows gave way to cast iron mould boards
for stirring plows and the shovel pillow for tilling
the corn. These in turn have given place to the
more modern improvements until these of the
present day, when gang plOws for cultiyating
have reduced the labor almost into pastmc.
Our hoes were of monstrous size and ponder
Gus weight, with the handle thrust into mas
sive eye. They bore about the same relation to
the steel-shankcd and polished hoe of to-day that
the stone aX of the Indian bears to that made by
the Perkins Brothers or Undcrhll.
We harvested our grain with the sickle or era.
die and our hay with the scythe Our threshing
machines were the fail or the more speedy but
less clcanly mode of tramping it out with horses.
The latter was the general mode, but for buck
wheat it would not work. because the horses feet
ground it as well as threshed it. The Mcssrs. |
Mccormick Nanny, Ball, Estcrly and other man.
ufacturcrs of farm implements had not yet put in
their appearance. Harycsters, mowers, thresh-
erS, shelters, hOrsc-rakeS and forks, did not even
have name, much less Il habitaton, in those
days; yet we thought ourselves well advanced in
the arts and sciences, and criticised our prede-
ccssorS for their lack of knowledge If the same
ratio OF Improvement in the discovery and manu-
facturc OF farm implements be made during the
coming half century that has been made during
the past, who is there here to-day viii dare pre-
diet the result?
Discoveries and improvements have been made !
within that period in every branch of science and
The simplest and least complicated
are frequently of the greatest practical utility, |
and none is more than the invention of the |
Lucifer match, which has superseded the flint and
steel and all Of the older modes Of kindling u !
fire or lighting PIPE. The sewing machine and
knitter, .aeratus and baking powder. have great
~ aided the housewife in her household duties |
But the grander discoveries are those by which |
Natures clements are utilized. The tabled thlm- |
dcrbolts of Jupiter-the dread lightning's fash |
has been tanned subdued, domesticated and rem |
dcrcd subscrvicnt and obcdicnt to the will of man
by the discovery of the telegraph. Even little |
child by touching the instrument with the tip of |
tho iimLr.r cln ..nd II 4 Minnel Innssnn nnr I'M |