The Press., 1884-03-20
SEVENTEENTH YEA KS AGO.

During the latter part of 1883 the com mittee on education and labor of the Mas sachusetts senate held sessions for inquiry at various points in the northern s ates. At one of these in Boston, MT. Sylvester Marsh, who was born at Camptop, N. H., 1903, was 8 witness. After varied ex- perience, east and west, he settled at Lit tleton about 1864, and built the railroad up Mt. Washington. Later he removed to Concord, N. H., where he now lives. He remembers quite distinctly back to 1910, and among the facts stated were the following:
 We then clothed ourselves by raising our own sheep, taking the wool to card ing machine, tied up Ill blankets, on horse back, a.d having 1t card. d into rolls. That Was ,rlied back to tue house, and there the women spun the wool and wove the cloth-altogether by hand loom, of course. Tn as to linen for shirts, etc., every farmer had piece of flax, and got out his own flax, dressed it as well as he cou!a. aud that was spun and woven by the wo- men aud made into shirts and sheets. w AVAi 4CS9oAA tO SAOCS A1u4OSu dlA AoAAAAO4S killed an OK or COW in the fall of the year, and they were all farmers where l livs then. The skiu was carried to tan nery, and after the hide had been tanned, the shoemaker came to the houses of the families with his lap-stone and tools, and made up shoes for the family. About 1912 there was not 8 four-whe eled carriage h the town. When was boy my mother bought of carpenter the first flaming mill, for flaming or winnowing grain, that was used in the town, and paid for 1t in weaving: In about 1911 Edmund Cook brought a four-wheeled buggy, orswhat- ever you might call it, into town. There were no springs upon it the body was. s..set on the axle. In 1912 came the war with Great Britain. The stock was then all picked up in that country and driven to Canada, and some of 1t WAS for the enemy too. A common COW would bring $50 in money. Before this war COW would bring about $12, not over that. There was scarcely any money in the country at that time; business was done by d cker. A yoke of six-feet cattle was considered ir wages for man for six months work. We had common school three months ill the year. had to go two miles to school. We had arithmetic and geography, and the first rudiments of grammar, reading, writing, spelling, and oratorlcal speaking. We all had to study oratory and speak then. The teachers got about $8 a month aud their board boarding around in diff fereut families.
 We had church in my native town and we pad the minister $4OO year paid him in produce and in wood, no cash al all, but in such material as he could live on. In 1912 this church was torn to pieces on political questions. Part of the people were democrats, in favor of the war, and part of them were federals, opposed to the war, and it created such division in the church that it broke up the society. The old church was a square church, about 40 by 50 feet, guess, with square pews in it, and with seat that lifted up when you stood up at prayers, making that much more room, and when the preachr said "Amen," the clapping of seats was aston. ishing. The sermon was always an hour long it was never short of that, and pray. CTS accordingly. We had tithing- man, with long pole, to keep order, and when the boys made too much noise they got rapped on the head. The women used tc bring to church pieces of sheet-iron in q wooden frame, with coals inside, so that they could keep their feet warm by keep ing them on the wooden frame, which would keep them from coming in direct contact with the heat. Every woman, al. most, brought such thing as that. When there was no snow on the ground the wo man rode to church on billions. as we call ed them, behind the men. Girls in those days used to have fine pair of shoes, and they would carry them in their hands un
 il they got near the church, and then they would step to one side of the road, o1 into the bushes, and put on their shoes, ,ge into church, and take them oil again on the way home, so as not to wear them much. This I know to be fact There was no building raised nor funeral that oc cured, nor anything else, hardly, without rum. A person would not consider him self gently used on going into house without being asked to drink If mar went into house without an invitation te 1 take something, he would not consider himself politically treated. But there was not nearly as much intoxication as now Folks did not all necessarily drink because rum was so plenty, but they all had 1t anc carried it into the fields every boy car ried jug. I knew old men that used tt drink pretty hard every time they wen to the ''store, " as we used to call 1t then once week or once month, they would get pretty we'll ''over the bay" but suc} men lived to be old men. never hearc of case of delirium tremens until 184O think there was great difference in tht quality of liquor drank. It must be that
 I left Campton for Boston in the spriLe of 1923. We young fellow always came afoot, as there was no stage route, and i there had been we would not have had tn. fare money. We used to make pack O our clothing and walk to Boston. I walk ed it four times. It was about 100 miles and the journey took three days; we coule easily walk that. There were then abou ,000 inhabitants in Boston. Board 8 the best hotels was $1 day. Common day labor ill the city was, at it's highest 1.25 for carrying brick aud stone, and do ing heavy kinds of work-and it was near ly all done by Yankees in those times though there might have been now ane then an Irishman Quincy Market wal opened in 1926, and stalls rented for $25t apiece for year. Now they are wortl 8, ,oOO.
 In the fall of 1928 I left for Ashtabul' county, Ohio. I went to Providence b, stage, and to New York by steam boat, thel up the North river to Albany, then up thu canal to Buffalo (the canal had only beer one year completed), from Buffalo ther, was an old boat then run to Dunkirk (4! miles), and we waited three or four day l for the wind to pO down and then we wen