The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-03-31

vaneed IN importance, there wAs tho four
horse stags, with it's motley losd Of pas
sengers 10 be accommodated.
have in my mind . representative ho-
tel, or tavern ss IL Was generally called, Of
tho period. think all pioneers will re-
cognize the picture, even the early law
makers at Madison, being accommodated
in . place somewhat similar. The hotel
was large building generally Of rough,
unhewn logs, large bsr-room, with an
open replace. This room was furnished
with = rough counter or bar, back OF
which was ranged few open shelves,
holding bottles Of different kinds Of liquors.
This bar, regret to say, was generally
well patronized. There were few men
who tried the experiment Of keeping
temperance house, but they were not gen.
orally prosperous or successful. Around
the sides Of this room were ranged long
benches and several smaller benches Ca
pable Of holding two or three persons were
distributed around the room. Chairs were
then almost unknown.
The dining-room was proportionately
large, and furnished with pine table,
sometimes guiltless Of cloth, at least q
clean one. Here benches also served in
place Of chairs. The fare, though plain,
was generally wholesome and well cooked.
There was but little attempt at extras,
such as pies, cakes, buildings, etc., etc. A
huge plate of "doughnuts" and sauce Of
dried fruit, comprising the principal arti-
cles of this kind. Meat and potatoes,
bread and butter, when butter could
be had, which was not always, with the
never failing pork and beans, these to-
gether with tea and coffee were the prin-
cipal dishes. They were served up on
blue edged plates, and eaten with iron
spoons and the plaiuest of knives and
forks, but travellers brought to the tables
good appetites and were seldom disposed
to grumble. The table was generally
waited on by men, the rough way of some
Of the motley crowd, not making it pleas
ant for a woman to perform that Office.
The roomy kitchen was the exclusive
domain of the ladies, whether travellers
or inmates of the house.
There were generally one or more Sleep
ing-rooms, neatly and comfortably fur
nished, for the accommodation of lady
guests, but the sleeping apartment of the
men, comprised the entire upper portion
OF the house in a single room, which was
technically called the "School Section."-
In this room were all the way from twen-
ty to fifty beds, in which the travellers
slept in pairs, and it must be said that pi-
oneer life, like necessity, makes sometimes
strange bed-felows. In some Of the
smaller hotels the beds were often full,
and it was no unusual thing for numbers
to skunk down. on the floor in the bar
room, or wherever they could get a chance.
For the benefit of those who did not
participate in these times, l will describe
the beds, but to a pioneer they are 80
familiar as to make description supper
| fuous.
Such a thing as a cabinet-made bed
stead was not for moment to be thought
of, do not think they would have been
received with favor, as it would have
seemed too much like putting on STYLE"
and that was an objectionable offence in
those days. The bedsteads were made with
small, round poles, the only tools used in
their construction being an axe and an
augur. They were furnished with cords,
which often had disagreeable habit of
sagging and breaking. The bed was
single tick, filled'with prairie hay, or "mas-
sasauga feathers" as they were generally
called, by way Of making them seem soft
or. Well patronized was that house and
lucky that traveller where there was suf-
fcient bed-clothing to keep warm in win
ter, and where bugs, to say nothing Of
other vermin. did not hold high carnival
In summer.
Speaking Of bed-clothes, have recol-
lection Of stopping one cold night at q
house where the landlady had CHANGED to
read Of paper quilts, and in an unfortun-
ate fit Of economy had tackled newspapers
inside her comfortables, instead of cotton.
These ratified sufficiently, had a bad habit
of slipping and sliding off the bed, but
somehow did not keep out the cold. Our
party CHANGED to have in our sleigh suffi-
cientquantity Of robes and blankets to keep
us warm, but from the lips Of others who
were not so fortunate, proceeded curses,
both loud and deep, and most of the trav-
elers got up and "made night of it,"
around the bar-room fire.
The stables were long, low buildings of
logs, well chinked and comfortable. For
the roof, poles were laiG close, and "shin-
gled with straw" These stables were
warm and pleasant for teams except in
spring and fall, when the mud got too
deep in them. A thick bedding of straw
helped this difficulty. however.
The following incident is not exactly IL
Illustrative of the hotel keeping of the
times, but as it really did occur, and will
serve to show how, even in those times,
woman sometimes had her way, give it
place:
A party of travellers drove up late one
afternoon to house where a creaking
sgnboard, swinging in the bleak wintry
wind, bore the inscription, travellers
Home A meek looking man came to the
door, to whom the travellers addressed the
inquiry:
"Can we stay here all nightY"
Before he had time to rcply n black