The Northern Pacific farmer., 1885-03-26
Love and Potash:

and made me come over to America. -
The speaker was an employe in a
large soap factory on the West side.
ported soda as he spoke.
Il was born in Bohemia among the
mountains, in a little village. Our
chief industry was making lye, and
sometimes soap. I think half of the
people made their living that way; my
family did. When I was little boy 1
was sent out every day with my BROTH
er and other little boys to gather leaves
and twigs. The best were those of the
fir, but we took everything. We'd
build big bonfires in dry weather, and
the moment the ashes and embers
were cold we'd throw them into bins
under low sheds. Below these sheds
were what you'd call leach tubs.
Some of these were old barrels sawed
in half; some, and they belonged to
the poorer folks, were heavy willow
baskets. One l remember was square,
built out of bricks with a door on the
side. When it ran through, it would
run into small bucket. This was
what used to he lye. 1t was too weak
to sell or to use to make soap, and so
we'd boil it down. Sometimes we'd
sell it when it was boiled down very
strong, but generally we let it boil till
it was dry. What was left was good
potash, and that we'd sell to a rich
man in the village, who'd send load s
of it away to foreign countries, if the
potash was gray we got a good price
for it, but if It was red or brown we
60: less money and also got a good
thrashing from our parents.
''Down the road was my fathers
cousin, who was the best soapmaker
in the barony. He made soft soap
from our potash and hard soap from
potash and common salt. He had a
pretty daughter-she's my wife now,
and when she was Is she was as good a
soap-boiler as her father. was about
II when the times began to grow quite
hard. The village merchant didn't
buy as much potash or soap, and what
he did buy he paid less for. And then
the men who'd start out in the spring
with wagon to peddle the same wares
found things just as bad everywhere.
We thought it came from the wars
that were going on, and that good
old prices would come back before
long. When I got to be 20 l was my
wife's beau, and the old folks agreed
that we should marry two years after
and keep up the family trades in the
old places. Well, we married but not
there, and I've never been there since;
''You see it came about like this. I
went down to the village one day with
load of potash and soap, and called
as usual on the merchant. For the
first time he refused to buy the latter,
and offered so small a price for the
former that | began to laugh. But
when he took out of a box some for
eign soap and offered it to me at half
the price l wanted, and explained to
me how the French and English were
making soda and potash in the big
factories out of rocks that cost almost
nothing. l saw my business was
ruined. The news ran through the
village, and everybody was very blue.
was particularly blue when thought
of Gretchen. Many tried to fight it
out, but they nearly starved. Most of
us wandered away to other countries,
and came over to America, where
I've been ever since. And little
over year after landed l sent over
for my sweetheart, and she came over
and we were married.-NcaU York San.