Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-02-11
How Folks Used 70 Live.
FROM CHAs. c. CoFFIN's LECTURE BEFORE
THE LOWELL INSTITUTE.

civilization has been effected, let us glance
: at society ms it was before the introdu' ion
of machinery. What were the convei 'en-
, ces or comforts of life? How did nen
live? What their employment? v Aat
their intelligence? =,
Lofty the ceiling, but bald and bar ne
rooms in the baronial castles OF l. 'iit
Britain. Their fireplace prior to til" 'th
century was a stone hearth in the rr re
of the great hall, with only an apei ,'re
in the roof for the escape Of the sm ,,e
At one end of the hall was the kenne .or
the hounds, above is the perch for the
hawks. Near the fireplace, piled In m
ter with blazing logs. was the ma vo
oaken table and the benches where the
baron ate his venison and quafied hls
beer. No carpet WAS spread upon the
floor, but it was strewn with ru' hes
instead, that the guests, when seats "ere
wanting, might not sell their garments
by sitting on the floor
In the time o. Henry VIII, when re-
finement added books to the oaken
benches, it was not so much for comfort
MS to display what were called the ''bank-
ers of Aras cloth manufactured by the
industrious citizens of Aras in France.
In Shakespeare's time tho brilliant fab
rics were nailed upon frames and used
for screens. We see Hamlet run his ra-
pier through the cloth and hoG HIM say.
How now A rat ?" as he puts an end
to Polonius.
The reign of Elizabeth from 1858 to
1903 was the beginning of new era IN
England The war with Spain, the plum
der derived from the richly-freishted
Spanish galleons. tho slave trade. were
great sources of wealth, The nation felt
the thrill of new life, which manifested
itself in new style of architecture and
luxurious living. Among the rich We
may imagine ourselves as guest IN n
nobleman's 8 residence. The stone hearth
of the former period, i'll the centre OF the
hall, has given place to n wide-mouthed
fireplace, and chimney. We are expect
ed to carry our own knife for use at the
table, and if it needs sharpening, We shall
find n whet stone hanging i'll the hall.
If We are guests at the table OF the Earl
of Leicester, We shall see that nobleman
sharpening his knife upon a MILESTONE
set in gold, present from Elizabeth.
We sit down to table provided with
wooden plates aud horn spoons. Our
host in carving holds the iint of beef
with enc hand, using the carving knife
with the other, with his fingers transfer
ring the meat to our plate, for forks are
not vet part Of table furniture. Not
till those years when VIM. Bradford and
| Elder Brewster were fugitives in Holland.
were forks used in England. In 1911,
Thomas Cargatt travelled in Italy and
made this entry in his journal:
Il observed custom that is not used
IN any other country They do use lit
| tie fork wien they cut their meat.
| He carried n fork to England, and was
much ridiculed "A familiar friend,
he writes, Master Lawrence Whitaker,
in his merry humor, called me Frucifes,
| for using n fork at fceding,' Frucifes
| having double meaning-not only n
| fork, but n villain who deserved the gal
! lows.
Notwithstanding tho ridicule. others
adopted it. but it WAS regarded an innova-
ton unwarranted by the Bible, and
theological discussion followed. One
clergyman maintained that as the Creator
had given us fingers, it was an insult to
the Almighty to use fork
THE DISCOVERY OF THE SAW MILL.
In 1853 a book was published i'll Lon
don bearing the title of The Accomplish
ed Young I.ady's Rich Closet OF Rnl-
ties" which contained. among other
| things, instructions Ill regard to etiquette
at table ''In carving at your own table,
read the volume, distribute the best
pieces first, and it will appear very de-
cent and comely to use n fork touch no
piece Of meat without it. Samuel Pepys
in the time OF Charles III. writes i'll his
diary that he attended the Lord Mayors
dinner that the guests ate from woodon
plates. Pewter succeeded wood. My
own memory recalls the shining rows of
pewter plates upon tho 'dressers" in the
old farm kitchen, with few wooden
plates, relics of former period.
Going back again to the time of Queen
| Elizabeth, We see Lord Howard, student
Mt Oxford, obtaining an outfit of clothing
preparatory TO entering the university,
paving the seamstress one-half penny for
making shirt Later i'll life he has four
shirts made. paving sixpcnce for the Ia
Dor.
In the household Of Henry VIII. there
were 10 persons. and their washing bills
| for wear amounted to forty shillings for
| the entire 170
Leaving the homes of the rich and en-
tering those Of the poor We find them de
void of everything which, in these days,
we esteem necessary for comfort. The
implements Of the husbandman are of
the rudest description. Life is bare
existence. Men, women and children
alike are doomed to drudgery, the women
| i'll plying the spindle.
From the earliest ages to the time
when Martin Luther was awakening the
world to new life, spinning was done by
the distafl or spindle. From the monu-
ments of Egypt, iu the Had and Odys-
sey, the Bible, in the illuminated manu-
scripts of the Middle Ages, we have rep
reservations Of the spindle, never of IA
a spinning wheel which made its appear
ance i'll England during the reign of Eliza
| beth.
In 1850 the Bishop of Ely travelling to
| Rome noticed a sawmill III France. near
Lyons. Never before had tEo learned
prelate seen, or heard of. such Il machine.
In England and everywhere else saving
was done by physical labor, one man
standing on the log, lifting the saw,
another in 4 pit beneath, putting it down.
Nor is it very long time since planks
for ships were thus manufactured at
Medford and East Boston. The bishop
wrote a description OF the saving appara-
tus, but century passed before mill
was erected in England The first was
built by Il Dutch mechanic, but the oppo-
sition of the pit sawyers was so great
that he was obliged to take it down. Not
till 1167-to the period Immediately
before the American revolution-was
there second sawmill erected i'll Great
Britain, which was demolished by mob
of sawycrs, who said that it was taking
the bread out their mouths At that
date, however, there were many mills IN
this country, manufacturing lumber for
the home demand or for export to Cuba
and England.
At very early period man learned
to utilize the wind to propel their
century that they conceived the
idea Of erecting windmills. In 1870
the Augustan friars of Zwol in
Switzerland wished TO erect windmill.
to relieve themselves of the labor of
grinding corn by hand but neiShbor
ing lord. who owned all the country
around, forbade them, saying that he
owned the winds The bishop was ap-
pealed to, who said that they belonged to
the church, and without his permission
no one could use them. Four years later
the city of Harlem obtained leave of AL
bert, Count Pnlatinc, on the Rhine, To
Ilsc the wind
With the exception Of few mills
driven 10y wind and water, for saving and
grinding the entire human rnce down to
within 100 Years was doomed 10 physical
toll
What were the savings Of men, what
their amount of wages, how much physi-
cal comfort during those years ? In
1888, at the time when our ancestors
were leaving England in the great Puri
tan emigration, and clearing their homes
in Ncwbury, Ipswich, Salem, the follow
ing prices We're established lay the
authorities in London. give the
amounts IN present currency:
turkey u Is
A duck .---. ~
4 dozen larkg ..-.--....... ~
| 4 dozen bi,rklurtI4 .,..-.- p