Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-17
WAR TIMES IN LOWNDEs.
How Necessity Became the Mother o
Many Quaint Inventions.

How Necessity Became the Mother of
Many Quaint Inventions.
NJ. Folsom, of Americas, contributed
the following to the last issue of the Val
dOsta Times:
The days of my childhood were spent
amid stirring scenes and trOubl0us times.
Southern ports were blockaded by Fede-
raj gunboats,and the frontiers beleaguered
by Northern armies.
Did you ever see n Georgia button ~
Those shirt buttons were queer looking
things. With their own hands our indus
triOus mothers spun the thread, and
needles were needles in those days. Pro-
vided with needle and thread they select
ed the site for the proposed button and
began sewing in and out ard round
and round until, by simple opera
ton, the button was made and sew
ed on fast. The button was made alto
gether of thread, and possessed a decided
advantage, it never came off. 1t lasted
just as long as the button hole. Home
made tumblers were an ingenious con-
trivance. A round bottle, white if it
could be obtained, was selected, and
stout cord was wrapped once around it.
One person held one end of the cord, an.
other held the other, and moved the bottle,
quite rapidly, until the glass became hot,
when it was plunged into cold water,
which caused the bottle to break in two
quite smoothly. Queer tumblers they
were, with their sharp edges;
but they did splendid service. Out
IN the interior one may still find an old
fashioned spinning wheel. All, me! How
sweet was the hum Of the old wheel as the
shadows crept slowly eastward, and the
''swish, swish, swish" Of the cards kept
time to the dreamy music. And the old
Georgia loom," with its queer looking
beams and we'll worn treadles. The
''click' of the shuttle and muff1ed "bang''
of the beam, have lulled me TO sleep
many time, as my dear old mother
worked with untiring energy TO furnish
'cOpperas and checked for my little
breaches.
In the manufacture of hats there was a
wide field for the exercise of their in
ventive minds. The tender shoots of the
saw palmetto, plated IN round, square
or "notchadY" strips, was most frequently
brought into reQuiSitiOn. But then there
were cloth hats made of that same home
spun by cutting cOnical pieces OF cloth,
sometimes Of different cOlOrs, and sewing
them together, the points meeting at the
top of the crown and the brim made sep
arateiy. These funny hats were worn by
some of the last cOnscripts, aud gave
them the name of 'hOp-eared-milish."
ShOemakerS were exempt and they
| showed wonderful skill in the manutac-
ture of shoes. The hides were tanned
with red oak bark, and the shoes were
made for use and not for show. When
anyone was so faStidiOuS as to desire
black shoes the shoemaker employed a
solution of vinegar and rusty nails to
| blacken the leather.
Soap was made from the ashes Of oak
and hickory. Negroes and boys were
| sent to the woods where they cut and
| piled great heaps of oak and fired them,
| guarding the ashes carefully from the
rain until cool, when they were taken
| home, thrown into a hopper, and leached.
| the I've being used for soap making and
for ''setting" the dye in colOrlng the
! homemade cloth.
Going to Deadman's Bay and other
| points for salt was picnic for the boys.
! They dug pits in the sandy beach, boiled
down the brine which arose in them, and
| then returned after having made sui
| fcient quantity to supply the neighbor-
! hood.
But sometimes the salt gave out and
| they hadn't time to go to the coast, so
they just scraped off the soil of the dirt
| flOOred smOke-hOuses and boiled that
down. True, 1t was rather dark, but 1t
was "salty." There was one thing that we
! could never find a successful substitute
or. That was coffee. We tried corn, wheat,
rice. meal, bran and other things. Okra
| seed made the best imitation conee, but
| II was a poor substitute. 1t is amazing
/ to think of these clumsy efforts and curl
| Gus contrIvances; but there is a palmetto
! side of the question.